On The Tip Of Your Tongue, At The Back Of Your Lungs
by Thisisarealtagwhy
Summary: He was a normal boy, a simple one, but it's not like he cares, he's been searching his entire life for something entirely different. And when Monkey D. Luffy opens his eyes to the world, something inside him changes, it explains the sometimes when he knows how to do things he really, really shouldn't know how to do. (modern au with subtle (?) reincarnation)
1. Chapter 1

Hi! Another reincarnation fic but just one piece this time. Kinda angsty i guess and minor OCs, like parents that play no role in life at all. Im not actually sure where it's based but imma say the closest we're getting is Australia because i cbf to search up how it goes in other countries.

Originally i got the idea of the song Wonderland by Caravan Palace but without the slavery and murder :/ eh, enjoy.

Whoops, just realised that my title is from bring me the horizon *shrugs*

* * *

Matthew Adronia was an ordinary kinda guy, simple in others eyes.

He had black hair and doe-like eyes. He was easy-going and he didn't ever get angry.

He had no friends and could always be seen in sandals and faded denim cut-offs no matter the season.

He had a nuclear family, his Grandpa sometimes visiting, accompanied by his Grandma who always smelt of cinnamon and lavender.

His parents travelled a lot, probably because of their job, he didn't know and frankly, he didn't care. He might love his parents but they were very… distant, they seemed more a figment of his imagination than anything.

He always attended high school wherever it was.

He wasn't particularly bright but sometimes he would remember the peak of the Great Pirate era and other miniscule details of historical events.

(Curiously enough he always had an urge to go into great details of the many torture contraptions formed throughout history)

Or sometimes he was able to perfectly cook while other times the kitchens almost burned down when he attempted to do _anything_.

(The girls would always look at him in mild fascination and flushed cheeks as he carefully offered his treats to them in school)

Or sometimes when he fell over he had an itch in the back of his mind to wrap it, and the forefront of his mind would be flooded with medical knowledge he never knew he had.

(He always took the bandages off afterwards and could feel the itch persist until he replaced them)

Sometimes, when he was in geography, he could perfectly graph a map, complete with measurements, scales and contour intervals.

(Funnily enough that was when peoples' wallets and other valuable tended to disappear)

Unusually, at a few schools, a kendo dojo was run as an extra-curricular activity and he had attended the first lesson, surprised when he picked up three bamboo sticks and slipped into exercises as if he had done them prior.

(At that stage he would be thirsty, so thirsty that he had once stolen the kendo masters' bottle of whiskey – he had been surprised to find it in his hands and settling deep in his stomach afterwards)

Sometimes he would attend music classes and sit down at a piano, eying the keys wistfully, then, he would burst into song, playing the instrument with an ease and grace he did not possess.

(He would always look to the horizon for an ocean at that stage, wishing for a friend)

During art classes, he was notorious for being awful at… well, everything. But sometimes he could artfully twist his paintbrush and brush out an image – more times often than not it was of a superhero he could not name and a ship.

(Strangely enough he was always compelled to lie at that stage – and as bad as he was at art, he was worse at lying)

Or a few times during woodwork and metalwork – sometimes even during science he had suddenly been struck by an idea and had let his hands move through the motions – what motions? He was unsure of the answer but his hands were sure so he allowed them to guide him to the finished product.

(He attempted to strip several times, and had also tried to replace someone prosthetic with a mechanical – he had gotten expelled for that)

And other times he endeavoured to speak to creatures of the sea, sometimes it seemed as if they understood because on several different occasions the whales he had been shouting at playfully flicked their tails and the dolphins skipped on over to him.

(He always tried to swim and was dismayed to find he was unable… it caused something within him to cry mournfully)

So yes, he was a little weird, people had thrown names at him for it, mostly specialists after his ever-so-distant parents had shown a little caring had told him that it sounded like the beginnings of schizophrenia.

(He never did the recommended exercises and his parents didn't try and force him into it)

But aside from that he was pretty normal.

But at night… at night it was always different and while he never really could remember the dreams vividly enough he clung to the wispy cobwebs as best as he could.

Nine people, nine, nine, he had to remember that number, it was important. He was sure it was important, he didn't know why but he knew it was.

It just was, just like the sky was blue because of gases and how the sun and the moon were fixtures in the sky.

He liked the study of geography the most and when people would ask why he'd say, "Because we talk about the ocean a lot, and I like the ocean."

And when they'd repeat why he'd reply, "Because the ocean means freedom."

And that was that.

He sometimes had fleeting periods of deep sadness, like he was missing a part of him. Well, two parts to be exact.

He had a feeling that that was what brothers would feel like.

And on his 16th birthday he had pulled out a worn-down box of sakazuki cups and an aged bottle of sake and silently sat down and raised one of three cups to the ceiling in salute.

Adronia had no idea why but by this stage he stopped worrying about these silly little things.

It was on his 17th birthday that his parents smiled proudly and pulled him onto a hired yacht and taken him out on the cerulean coast of Brazil.

He remembered it vividly – the first time he had ever been on a boat – and it had been spectacular. He had sat at the front of the little thing and wistfully wished for a different boat – but the one he was thinking of was a caravel.

His parents had shared discussions under candlelight, accompanied by a sweet-smelling wine and had spoken of where they went wrong.

Matthew understood, he wasn't truly theirs, he could feel it in his veins. He may be biologically but he knew that he wasn't really theirs.

How could he be when he dreamt of the nine people?

And of others, so many others that only was a part of his life for fleeting moments.

Blue, flames. Everything was swallowed into the abyss every time he awoke, scrambling for _something._

After a week of being 17 he had met a green-haired man who was lazily watching juniors beat each other up with bamboo sticks in the schools' kendo club.

"Hi! You've got really cool hair, what's your name?" Matthew, not really knowing how to approach the man properly said and without preamble sat down on the ground.

The man, to his credit barely looked offended instead he sighed long-sufferingly and a smirk pulled his mouth out of its frown, without looking up he said. "That's not really how you talk to stranger's kid."

Matthew tilted his head. "If you tell me your name we won't be strangers anymore."

The man snorted. "Roronoa Zoro." Roronoa Zoro introduced himself, eyeing the younger boy in the corner of his eye. "Now it's your turn."

"I'm M-" He'd been about to say Matthew Adronia, but… that name didn't fit, did it? The name he had searched for the entirety of his life was sitting on the tip of his tongue and after an agonising pause he blurted. "Monkey D. Luffy."

"Luffy huh?" Zoro smiled from his position under a tree. "You sure that's your name kid, you looked certain of the other name before."

"That's my name." And it was, Luffy didn't know why or how but again an external force had pressured him into a different path.

The green haired man smiled widely and after what felt like an eternity but not of silence between the two Zoro said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Well then, I suppose I'll see you here tomorrow. I'm giving you a lift home."

Luffy had merely grinned and with a little "Shishi sure." The duo had left the dojo and approached the battered green commodore that Zoro identified as his own.

(It took a lot longer than 10 minutes for them to actually get to his house but it was the best hour he had ever spent in his life)

Unsurprisingly his parents hadn't cared too much about his name change, apparently, they had expected it if their late-night conversation was to be believed.

He had gone to bed hollow that night.

But his dreams had made him feel warm on the inside and he had resolved the call Zoro the next morning, opting to skip the day of school.

Within another week Luffy grew extremely close with the man known as Roronoa Zoro, he was so _cool._ He could work three swords and as such worked in tournaments to earn money and as a promise.

He lived with a girl.

Not like that but just normally. They were friends. "Nami, I love mikans and money." And that was how she introduced herself, apparently, she _had_ no last name.

But that was okay, Luffy hadn't even known his own name for over 17 years.

Nami spent most of her time documenting the world through maps, she submitted them to the local college for a _small_ sum in return. She also had taken over part of Zoro's backyard with a grove of mikan trees.

The house was officially Zoro's but Nami had pestered him long enough that he agreed to let her be a tenant. They had met after a kendo match, Zoro kicking the five men overwhelming her in a dark alleyway.

It was horribly cliché and Luffy couldn't help but think that Nami probably would've been able to deal with them if she had a bo staff.

But, back to the house, it was built over two separate blocks of land which had led to the extended backyard. It was double story, the second overlooking the ocean and the slowly rising city-line. It was cluttered with bottles, plants and other little knick-knacks.

More noticeably, Nami's room had one wall dedicated to a world map and hundreds of draft maps were stacked neatly in the corner.

The kitchen was simple and Luffy quickly discovered that neither of the two knew how to cook, so usually the three bought take-out unless Luffy's talent overcome him.

Surprisingly but not surprisingly two of his come-and-go skills had disappeared.

His parents noticed him subtly withdrawing further into the arms of his two new frie- no. Friends was not strong enough of a word. It just didn't fit. It didn't carry the right emotion.

 _Nakama._

He stumbled across the word in his Japanese class and had smiled in acknowledgement. It fit. It carried the right amount of emotion for his nakama. Nami and Zoro, his nakama.

His parents clearly cared, they started trying to get him to talk to them more but, as if he was a tortoise, he slowly withdrew into his shell, shying away from their money and their offers.

They just sighed in disappointment and went on more journeys than ever, leaving him more often than not, with his grandparents.

But his grandparents understood better than his parents did and didn't object to him staying with his friends 24/7.

They'd simply said. "You're young, they're your first friends. Just remember that if anything goes wrong we'll come pick you up."

And with a basket of homemade goods and promises on his lips, he left.

The three of them were lying on the lounge together watching some kind of horror movie. Luffy didn't really know, all he saw was a lot of blood and heard a lot of screaming.

Luffy's head was in Zoro's lap, the aforementioned man lightly dozing and Nami was curled against his other side stealing popcorn from their homemade ceramic bowl.

"Luffy." Nami had begun and Zoro had paused the movie, sitting up a little straighter. "I know this is kind of sudden but, would you like to move in once you turn 18?"

Luffy had never really belonged anywhere and his heart soared and had slowly nodded, not trusting his voice, as it was, there was a stone of emotion stuck in his throat.

Nami and Zoro smiled in tandem and hugged him a little harder. They understood, Luffy knew it.

They knew why he was so withdrawn sometimes, and why he had to constantly touch them to make sure they were there.

They were both similar to him.

They understood that it hurt worse than dying to be alone. After all, they had been alone for so long in their own lives.

It was another week after that that a deeply tanned boy raced into their house, banging on their door.

Mildly alarmed Zoro had given warning glances to Nami and Luffy and approached the door, tightly clutching a beautiful katana.

He pushed the door open and the boy on the other side sobbed in relief. The first thing Luffy noticed, was his abnormally long nose but it was quickly forgotten as the boy began to speak. "Please, you have to help me, Ma is really sick and I don't, I don't think she's going to make it. Our phones are dead and we don't have a home one, so please call an ambulance."

"What's your name?" Luffy said, even as Nami began to dial 000. He knew that the trick was that he should be ensuring that the boy stays calm.

The boys' brown eyes drifted from Nami back to Luffy and replied. "Usopp. Yours?"

"Luffy." He grinned widely and said. "Can you take us back to your house Usopp?"

"Yes, yes." Usopp hopped down their crooked steps and rushed down their overgrown garden and out to the street.

It was a good thing that Nami, Zoro and Luffy had good cardio-vascular fitness because Usopp was _fast._

Nami wordlessly handed the phone to Usopp and Luffy sidled up to his new nakama.

He tripped at that thought and it was only because Usopp grabbed his hand that he didn't go tumbling to the ground. "Thanks."

Usopp nodded and began to speak to the medic on the other side and Luffy pondered over why he had already named Usopp as nakama.

But he subconsciously knew. He knew that Usopp was like the three of them. When he looked at the afro and overalls he wondered if that's what had led Usopp to their house.

"It's just here." Usopp gestured to a small bungalow atop a neatly trimmed garden and hurried down the path, twisting to dodge the easel next to the door.

"Mum, I'm home!" He called out, clearly panicking when he couldn't hear a response.

She was atop a crimson bed, she was beautiful in old age, grey hair contrasting with her blackened face, twisting around her head to form a crown, flowers woven into it. She was wearing a white dress with green stitching embedded on the hem.

And she wasn't breathing.

Usopp gasped terribly and Nami cursed and pushed the now panicking boy at both of them and leapt onto the bed. With a practised ease, she tilted her head back, checking her airways for obstructions.

When none became apparent she immediately turned to compressions and Usopp almost collapsed. Both Zoro and Luffy gently lowered him into a cane chair.

Luffy squatted down next to his nakama and watched detachedly as Nami desperately tried to revive the old woman. He hummed 'Stayin' Alive' under his breath to make sure she was going at the right pace.

Zoro frowned at the pair of them and said. "I'm going out the front to wait for the paramedics. Usopp, come on, up you get."

His muscly arms lifted the boy up effortlessly and lugged him out the front. Luffy promptly stole his vacated seat and watched.

He watched because he knew that Nami shouldn't be alone doing this.

At 1733 the hospital declared Kali deceased. Cause of death: most likely heart attack. However, a further inquest by the coroner would officially decide whether her death was due to a heart attack.

Luffy, Zoro and Nami crowded around Usopps' bed protectively – he had been placed there because of shock.

Finally, Zoro stiffly said that he was going to go get coffee and left the little circle.

Luffy laced an arm around Nami who was shivering in the coldness of the hospital, she had been forced here in nothing but a mini-skirt and t-shirt after all.

Luffy entwined Usopps' hands with his free hand and finally the boy began to cry. Sobs wracking his form and without a second thought Luffy sat next to him and wrapped his arms around him and without hesitation Nami followed suit.

Zoro returned to the sight of the three of them snuggling into the hospital bed, barely fitting but somehow making it work. He privately smiled, setting the three hot chocolates down and snapping a quick photo.

"Hi, my name is Patricia Annets, I am here on behalf of child protection services." The woman was tall, probably due to the height of her heels. Her blonde hair swept into a neat pony-tail. She nervously smoothed down her black pencil skirt with her manila folder.

He sighed, mussing his green hair and when she approached regarding custody of Usopp Zoro replied gruffly. "He's with me."

The older woman frowned and clicked her tongue subtly. "I'm sorry, but Usopp has no relatives, it will take months for you to receive custody of him."

Zoro grumbled under his breath and took a long deep swig of the coffee, relishing the burn on his throat. "So you're telling me that he's going to be in the system until he's 18?"

The woman nodded, cherry lips glinting under the hospital lights. "I'm afraid so, he is free to do whatever he may wish afterwards but he will have to go through the foster system."

"Why don't you consult with him first?" Zoro murmured, dragging a seat out for the woman who after sighing, dropped into the seat.

She sighed. "I will, but to be clear, you will have to be deemed as a suitable carer."

Zoro furrowed his brow considering the work he'd have to do around the house and how Luffy and Nami could help.

"So I can adopt him, just after a certain amount of time?"

"Yes. I can keep your name and details if you wish Mr...?" Patricia asked, pulling out a pen and notepad from her breast-pocket.

So, Zoro filled her in and she was on her merry way with a promise to be back in another hour when Usopp was to wake.

As it was, apparently _Luffy's_ grandparents were already a foster-carer and after their grandson was found in hospital they both rushed to his side.

"And that's that." Lilian, Luffy's grandmother declared, retrieving the CPS woman.

Gregory smirked behind his thick white beard victoriously.

Zoro and Nami decided that they liked the two. Especially seeing that they were so clear of judgement when they had spotted the two that had stolen their grandson away.

"Hi Usopp." Lilian waved a dainty hand. "I know that this is very sudden after your mother's passing, but would you care to live with us? You do not have to make a decision as of yet." And with a final pet and another promise to begin visiting more often the two were on their way, taking with them the CPS woman.

Luffy curled into Usopps' side. "Hmm, if you move in with my grandparents then… you could live with us Usopp."

Usopp sharply inhaled and Luffy knew.

He knew that Usopp was as lonely as he had been before he had met (or remet) Zoro and consequently Nami.

Usopps' voice was thick with emotion as he attempted to speak. "I-I-I would really like that." The words stumbled out of his mouth and that was all he needed to say really.

And after a tenuous couple of months, Usopp slowly migrated into their house. He claimed the same room as Luffy – the one with a balcony overlooking the ocean – and cleaned out one of the storage rooms and converted it into a workshop/art studio.

They quickly run into a smooth rhythm of attending school together (they already had but Luffy had never spotted the boy).

Luffy slowly became more open at school. Engaging in activities with more effort and vigour than ever before.

It was a month later that they met Sanji and his brother Chopper.

Well, they didn't actually know them as Sanji yet, or even Chopper.

It was a bitterly warm day and they had decided that since it was a weekend, they all deserved a day at the beach.

"Zoro, do you know where our picnic basket is?"

"Not really, check the bathroom."

"Why on earth would it be in the bathroom?"

"I don't know but I figure it's the only place you haven't checked, Nami."

"Shishishi, let's go guys!" Luffy declared, racing out to the white van that Usopp had brought with him when he crashed into their lives.

Zoro went for the driver side only for Usopp to frown and say. "No, we'll get lost if we let you drive."

Zoro flushed but regardless shuffled up to Luffy's side.

Nami sauntered down the winding path, wearing only a bikini top and shorts, forgoing any shoes.

Underneath her arm, an umbrella was tucked and in the other, their keys were clutched.

"Usopp! Did you grab my bag?" Nami asked, ducking into the passenger seat, pushing pencils and pens off the seat.

"Mhm." He pointed at the orange bag in the back with Luffy and Zoro.

Usopp started up the van, letting it purr to life.

The beach was only a few minutes ago but it would have been a pain to carry everything in the sweltering sun.

Luffy pressed his face to the window, watching in excitement at the changing scenery. Taking pity, Nami unwound the window and Luffy whooped sticking his head out and catching the wind on his face.

They all hopped out of the van, carrying the esky of drinks, rainbow umbrella, the banana lounge and four bags to the hot sand.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Usopp and Luffy cried, hopping from one foot to the other.

Zoro sighed and walked calmly through to a suitable spot near the red and yellow flags. He stabbed the umbrella into the sand and unfolded its' wings, providing suitable shade for them to drop their things and race to the water.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Luffy grinned, still grinning, even when he was overtaken by Zoro who dived into the surf without preamble.

Nami joined the green haired man and then Usopp did. "Come on Luffy." Zoro said, a grin in his voice.

"Looks like you're last."

Luffy smiled, that was okay. He decided, he was with his nakama.

But just as he was about to jump into the surf his foot landed on something that popped and suddenly all three of his nakama were jumping out of the surf, horrified expressions adorning their faces.

"Luffy!" Was the last thing he heard before his mind short-circuited.

 _He was floating in a timeless void._

 _Images blurred around him, as if it was being played through an awful television._

 _"Luffy!"_

 _Huh, that was_ his _name, wasn't it?_

 _He wasn't sure. He used to be Matthew, but even now, that name felt_ wrong _in his mouth._

 _Did he have a mouth?_

 _Nothing was sure anymore._

 _But that voice!_

 _"Come on kid, open your eyes."_

 _Huh that wasn't any of his nakama but he liked that voice, it was deep, gruff like Zoro's but it had the qualities of someone who chain smoked._

 _"Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes? What's your name?" So many questions, in such a high-pitched voice too._

 _But nonetheless, he felt himself pulled from the brink of wherever he was and suddenly the_ blue sky was above him, framing his vision a small prepubescent kid and a curly browed man _._ And then his nakama.

And he knew that this was real.

"God, Luffy, are you alright?" Zoro asked, voice shaking and skin pale.

"Yup!" He said, well, he tried to say but it came out as a gurgle and suddenly he was rolled onto his side and he felt how hothothot the ground was.

"It's okay, your name is Monkey D. Luffy, you were at the Newcomen's beach when you stepped on a blue-bottle. My name is Tony Tony Chopper and I-"

"He gets it!" Nami all but snapped, they were all on edge, Luffy realised, all because of him. And he felt guilt stab him.

"No need to yell at Chopper milady, he's just doin' his job." The other stranger said, raising a perfectly sculpted curly eyebrow.

"Ne, what's a blue-bottle?" Luffy asked curiously.

"It's a little jellyfish lookin' thing with tentacles usually underneath the sand. It's about yay big." Curly brow put his hands about an inch and a half apart. "You stand on one and it wraps its' tentacles around your ankle stinging you, usually they're non-fatal. Just looks like you're unlucky."

He was met with silence and curly brow blushed. "What? I listen to Chopper!"

"Your eyebrow is cool." Luffy said, reaching out to touch it before he could stop himself.

The man flinched back, probably because of the sudden movement and Luffy let his arm fall down uselessly.

The silence grew heavy before the blonde-haired man sighed. "Only the ladies get to touch these brows, got it little guy?"

Luffy frowned. "I'm not a little guy, I'm 17 and a half."

Curly brow waved a hand dismissively. "Still little to me."

Luffy frowned deeper and sat up, for some reason that offended him and he had no idea why. "I'm old enough to know that I almost died."

Curly brow looked a little taken aback before a grin overtook his features. "That's good kid, my name's Sanji."

"I'm Luffy."

"Yeah I figured that one out."

The bantering felt wrong, like it shouldn't be _him_ that Sanji was bantering with.

So he stopped, he didn't want to ruin whatever was happening so he went with his gut feeling.

Usopp flopped down next to Luffy and shook a little. "I'm glad you're okay Luffy, the ambulance will be here in ten minutes."

Luffy frowned, he didn't want an ambulance, they would definitely call his parents and he didn't want that. They would try and take him away from his friends.

Chopper, as if sensing his rising panic frowned deeply – the look odd on such a young face. "If you don't want to be admitted to hospital I can take you back to our house, we work double as a clinic as well."

Zoro and Luffy exchanged a quick glance – it was all it took for Luffy to firmly nod. "Please."

Sanji huffed and rose, offering a hand to Nami that she refused, dusting the sand from her knees.

Luffy sat up, accepting the offered water from Sanji.

"Thanks."

When the ambulance _did_ arrive, it took a little convincing for the paramedics to leave a post blue-bottle patient. But when they learnt of Choppers' credentials they acquiesced, leaving the beach.

"Let's go Luffy." Sanji said, throwing a piece of gum into his mouth.

"Hold up swirly brow, I'll be taking Luffy to your clinic because frankly, I don't trust you." Zoro said clearly, tugging Luffy to his chest.

"What was that moss-head? Did you speak? Sorry, I don't understand idiot, Luffy is coming with us, Chopper is his doctor and as his doctor he'll need to care for him." Sanji glared and stepped forwards, presumably to collect Luffy however he was halted by Chopper.

"It's okay, I'll go with Zoro, Nami and Usopp, can you travel with Sanji?" Chopper asked, eyes imploring them to do so.

Zoro sighed and nodded, jerking a finger to the van, ordering Usopp and Nami to double back and reclaim their supplies.

Sanji sighed heavily and nodded as well, nodding to the gold Porsche at the top of the beach in front of the kiosk.

It was a lucky thing that they went to the clinic otherwise Luffy knows that he never would have both Chopper and Sanji as his nakama.

They just _were_ his nakama.

He already knew it.

And he was proven right for after his treatment the two stayed with the quadlet. In the beginning, it was just for video game nights and time for Sanji to cook his heart out.

But later the two began to crash there more often than not. Sanji and Choppers' parents both wanted the two to go to university right now despite the fact that Sanji had already done the appropriate amount of TAFE for becoming a chef and Chopper had already been gifted the highest award for medicine.

According to the two, their parents expected far too much and as such, the two moved out. Chopper had cried when he had parted with the extended doctor surgery but he had done so voluntarily.

Apparently, they both felt at home with the others as well so Luffy extended the word, nakama to the two of them as well.

There was a break in his recruiting of nakama for a while and his 18th birthday passed – not that he said anything but the others figured it out anyway.

They had held a massive party for Usopp prior to his so of course they were going to.

In the back-yard candles burned on the top of crates with cloth over the top of them. Fairy lights and lanterns crisscrossed the skies from Nami's mikan tree back to the house and Sanji had an outdoor barbecue sizzling away.

Luffy felt happy that they did this for him but he couldn't help and feel that there were too many people missing.

So, at midnight he grabbed Zoro's hand and waltzed out of the house, ignoring the rest of the passed out drunk nakama (sans Chopper, he was just sleeping). "Come on Zoro we're going exploring, just you and I."

He marched onwards and Zoro frowned but said nothing, Luffy knew that Zoro understood.

 _He had to._

The 7/11 in town was still open so they slipped in, Luffy immediately headed for the slushy machine despite the fact that the days were getting colder. Zoro walked up beside him and started filling his own cup.

Luffy hummed as he filled the cup, he could feel that something big was going to happen, he just wasn't sure _what._

Slushy successfully filled over the top he turned around, _and promptly crashed into another man._

"Oi." The man he had crashed into was frantically trying to rub the coke coloured stains from his white shirt before they could take root but they were already too deep.

Luffy leapt up. "Shishi, sorry, I didn't see you there mister, what's your name?"

The other man frowned. "Is that how you usually greet strangers?"

Zoro snorted derisively. "Pretty much mate."

Luffy opened his eyes a little more, employing the deer eyes tactics (Chopper named them, not him).

The other man sighed a little and bowed a little. "Pleasure to meetcha, I'm Portgas D. Ace."

"Ace… huh." Luffy smiled widely. "My name's Monkey D. Luffy. I'm uh, sorry about your shirt Ace."

Ace looked down at his shirt and sighed. "That's okay, I think I ran into your slushy instead."

Zoro laughed again, man he wished he had popcorn.

Luffy didn't know what to say, he knew this person. He. Knew. This. Person. But he didn't! He would remember if he met such a guy.

There was something about him that made him want to cry and wrap himself around him several times.

Whoa, that's extreme. "Do you wanna drink some sake?" Luffy blurted out.

Zoro looked surprised at that. That was weird, Luffy had never drunk sake. Even during the party he had stuck to the weak stuff.

Ace seemed to think it over for a moment before he shrugged. "Why the hell not?"

They all payed for their slushy's and Ace his fuel before making their way back to their house.

Luffy stealthily snuck in, grabbing those sakazuki cups from before and setting them down on a crate. He cracked open the bottle for the second time in his life and poured three cups.

Zoro didn't go for one, he knew it wasn't for him.

Ace sat cross-legged on the ground and smiled widely at his new friend, they both lifted their cups. "Hey, did you know that if you exchange sake, you become brothers?" Luffy knew that Ace was waiting for a reaction and he couldn't help but tear up a little.

"We're missing someone." Luffy stated, sniffling a little.

Ace nodded numbly. Luffy knew in that moment that Ace _was_ his brother.

He wasn't sure how but he had long since stopped questioning how he knew things like that.

"We'll find him Ace, I promise we'll find him." Luffy felt compelled to say.

Again, Ace nodded before tipping his head back and gulping down the sake and Luffy copied his movement.

Things seemed timeless in that moment, two brothers (re)united.

Ace didn't move in with them but that was okay, Luffy hadn't expected him to.

They would meet up at least once a month, it was decided between the two and phone numbers were exchanged.

Luffy ran a hand over the wall in the loungeroom, it was covered in photos, photos from the beach, the mall, photos of everything.

Zoro was out at a kendo tournament, Luffy would've attended if Nami hadn't insisted that he go to school, Zoro had promised that he would be back in two days at most though Sanji had laughed and said they'd never get him back for the fool would be lost.

Sanji was home, he was cooking pancakes for Luffy right now.

Chopper was working, so was Usopp and Nami.

Luffy sighed, eyeing the cheesy thriller playing on the TV. It was stupid and he wished that Zoro was here, Zoro would know a _good_ thriller.

Not this cheesy b-grade piece of crap.

"Oi, Luffy, pancakes are ready." Sanji said, leaning against the wall and chewing on gum – he wasn't allowed to smoke indoors.

Luffy scrambled for the kitchens, hearing his phone and anything that had been on his chest fall to the floor but he didn't care.

Food was waiting after all.

He heard Sanji sigh and pick the discarded items up and Luffy bounded back into the lounge-room.

"Ne, Sanji, wanna go exploring?" Luffy asked, having already gobbled down the pancakes.

Sanji shrugged. "Sure."

Luffy smiled and jammed his phone and keys into his pockets. Sanji ensured that he had a packet of cigarettes and his lighter before closing the door behind them gently, "Now, where are we off to today?" Sanji asked, lighting up and letting the smoke fall from his lips.

* * *

Okay, so hopefully *fingers crossed* the second chapter will be up tomorrow at some stage. i literally wrote this in like 5 hours because i was really itching to.

Sorry about any mistakes, i kinda ended up being rushed because i want to sleep? I hope y'all enjoyed


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so im a day late. i apologise. I also apologise for how cruel i am here. and i also apologise to all those who read the clamp of whispers? i havent forgotten about you its just that this has been at the forefront of my mind forever. Oh, im changing the last chapter a lil bit, only about the beach part, some - scratch that most of you have no clue what i was talking bout *shrugs* i forgot that they were mostly an Australian thing. Blue bottles.

They sting you when you stand on them and wrap their tentacles around you - sometimes they're fatal, that's what happened here.

* * *

"Hmmm." Luffy wondered for a while, face slowly turning red from the effort and Sanji chuckled lightly.

"Don't hurt yourself."

Luffy pointedly ignored that comment and instead brightened up. "How about the aquarium?"

The time seemed to drift around the two as Sanji drove them to their local aquarium, it was run-down and still seemed to be holding onto an era it was no longer a part of.

Luffy loved it, most of the other towns had had aquariums but none of them overlooked the ocean, and none of them _felt_ right.

This one would be where he found another of his nakama, he decided.

The car park was pretty abandoned, weeds pushing through cracks in the neglected pavement, desperately clawing out for freedom. Rusted shopping trolleys lay on their sides.

They rolled into a spare parking spot, Sanji ensuring that it was locked and unwrapped a cherry lollipop – it could be strawberry but Luffy decided that it was cherry – and offered another to Luffy.

He smiled and took it, popping the decidedly cherry treat in his mouth. His mouth exploded with the taste of… watermelon.

He smiled and tilted his head back, watching the clouds roll through the sky, some patiently while others raced past in ever changing shapes.

There was no one else around.

Out of sight, out of mind, Luffy though morbidly but then decided that it wasn't time to be morbid and skipped to the entrance.

Sanji huffed in annoyance but followed after him, long legs filling in the gaps of time between the two.

"Two tickets please, mademoiselle." Sanji asked politely, gracefully bowing to the bored looking woman behind the counter.

She popped a bubble of gum and said. "That'll be $10 thanks."

Sanji handed over the money – Luffy had none to his name aside from a little allowance his grandparents gave him every time they came over.

(He also secretly thought that $10 wasn't very much to gain admission into an aquarium)

The lady smiled – it wasn't a very nice smiled and said. "Enjoy your stay."

She blew another bubble and opened the gate for them.

The interior was a lot cleaner than the outside. Luffy thought, looking at the dark blue wallpaper and the fading posters falling off the walls. He watched shadows dance along the walls from displays hidden in the depths of the aquarium.

He dragged Sanji along the hall excitedly, ignoring the little kiosk and souvenir store. Bored teenagers reading books and slurping milkshakes.

Luffy whooped in excitement when the first tank came into view, one filled with brightly coloured fish. They were brightly coloured to him, but Sanji would probably know every name.

Luffy pressed his face against the glass, and instead of immediately deserting, they crowded around the interested boys face.

Sanji choked on his lollipop at the sight. But after a few decisive seconds he stepped forward and pressed his face against the glass with his nakama. "What are they saying Luffy?"

And he immediately feels silly, there's no way that Luffy could under-

"They say that I'm not like any of the others, they say that one of our nakama are waiting for us." Luffy said nonchalantly and Sanji, instead of freaking out like he wanted to, simply smiled and nodded.

"Should we go find them then?" Sanji offered.

"Do _you_ know where I can find him?" Luffy asked the fish quietly.

Luffy smiled when they breathed out their answer to him. "Yosh, let's go get our nakama Sanji."

He unzipped his jacket, shoving his hands in his pockets while he waited for Sanji to catch up.

They walked in silence past rooms with no handles, toilets that had old out of order signs hanging on them and past a skeleton crew.

For some reason that thought made him laugh, as if he had made such a brilliant joke and he found himself whistling a familiar tune in his elation.

Luffy saw Sanji give him a calculating glance, no doubt recognising the tune, not by name but by soul.

Finally, they turned the corner and in cheery, bright fading letters, 'Shark exhibition' was declared. Without hesitation Luffy walked through, his sandals slapping against the carpet mutedly and Sanji followed after, his dress shoes silent.

Off to the left was a large tank containing a tiger shark, in the centre, a large number of small sharks, all swarming together. Sanji muttered something about pygmy spines before the man came into their view.

He was bulky, that much was obvious. He had his back to the two, sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing another tank of a hammer shark.

His black hair was streaked with grey and swept up into a band. He was wearing a kimono and Luffy could see the paleness of his skin.

Without any self-preservation Luffy went over and sat next to the man. He thought that it was the right thing to do. The man didn't say anything, just breathed in deeper.

Sanji followed the younger man and sat on the other side, Luffy knew that the main reason Sanji followed suit was because of the same pull he felt.

The same one that had led Sanji into all of their lives.

So Luffy patiently waited for the man to speak or move, or do anything really. All he was doing was watching the hammer shark swim around the tank lazily, it was a big tank, probably eight by eight by four metres and on the inside there was plants aplenty.

Finally the man looked down at Luffy and gruffly said. "What do you want with an old man like myself?"

Luffy tilted his head in confusion, did the man not feel that pull? So instead of providing the man with an answer he smiled and asked. "What's your name old geezer?"

"My name?" An eyebrow sculpted like the waves was raised. "I am known as Jinbe, and your name is...?"

"Monkey D. Luffy." He said proudly.

The bulky man's face contorted into a small smile so Luffy counted that as a win. "It is a pleasure to meet you Luffy-kun."

Luffy's face twisted into one of displeasure, "I don't need the _kun_ Jinbe."

Jinbe chuckled a little, shifting his kimono.

Sanji sighed and pulled out another piece of gum, popping the strawberry flavoured confection into his mouth. The shark was barely moving, as if hypnotised, no, Sanji internally corrected, it was looking at Luffy and the old man.

Sanji wanted to distrust the old man, but Luffy never made friends unless they were _nakama._ Or so Nami and Zoro had told him.

He had yet to see it in action but he couldn't deny that there was a magnet drawing him to Jinbe.

"So, why did you come here, Luffy-kun?" Jinbe asked, turning back to the glass.

"Mm, dunno, something pulled me here." Luffy said truthfully, thoughts drifting to the external forces that _always_ seemed to act on his life.

Jinbe didn't look as surprised as he should.

"I feel that way with life I suppose." Jinbe admitted, looking surprised by the admission, as if he hadn't meant for that to tumble out of his mouth.

But Luffy just nodded, he understood, and he knew that Jinbe was his nakama. Just as the sun would always rise.

It was just another odd thought. "What brings you to this particular exhibit?" Sanji asked, finally speaking, Jinbe turned to him in surprise, but also in acceptance – like he knew Sanji was there, was _supposed_ to be there.

"I saved this shark off of another coast, years ago. And he found me in this town, battered and alone so I began an aquarium so he could live here in protection, I wish he was in the ocean but… he would die." Jinbe admitted, arms crossing themselves.

Luffy smiled, he liked Jinbe. "What's his name?"

"Fisher Tiger."

"Huh, that's a cool name." Sanji said, visible eye turning to the hammer shark in faint admiration.

"Wel-"

Whatever Luffy was going to say was cut off by his phone buzzing, he pulled it out, glancing at the screen. Face lighting up faster than any piece of electricity filled machine. "Zoro's back, Sanji!"

He whooped in delight and raced out of the room, as if an afterthought he stuck his head back in and said. "Ne, Jinbe, wanna come eat dinner with us? We're gonna have a party!"

Jinbe slowly rose, dusting his knees off. "I do not see what harm it could do." He conceded, allowing himself to be steered out of the aquarium.

The women behind the counter looked surprised at the sight of Jinbe's hulking frame but bit back any protests against Luffy's glare, he didn't usually glare, actually he never glared. There had been nothing to protect so he hadn't cared.

But then his nakama had wormed their way into his life and he wasn't going to allow them to be hurt. He had a feeling that he had hurt them grievously before but he wasn't sure how.

He was brought out of his musings by the familiar click of Sanji's car unlocking itself. He jumped into the back, making room in the front for his new nakama.

Jinbe shook the car a little when he settled inside but that was okay, Sanji's car was fine for this.

Luffy forced the window down and stuck his head out it, relishing in the feeling of the air rushing over him.

Luffy couldn't hear Sanji and Jinbe talk over the sound of wind. Silly wind. But he couldn't help but think that Jinbe heralded a bad time coming, there were, after all, times in his dreams when he dreamt of fire and magma.

They weren't happy dreams. But Jinbe was always there.

It was frustrating to say the least.

As soon as they rolled into Sanji's car space Luffy jumped out of the car, zipping towards the house.

"Oi Luf-mmph!" Zoro couldn't finish his words due to being squashed by one Monkey D. Luffy.

It was a good thing that Zoro was used to things like this because after the initial surprise had worn off he rubbed the others back comfortingly.

Zoro didn't fully understand why Luffy was so clingy sometimes, but he understood at the same time. It was a paradox with Luffy as the only constant.

It was the same way that Chopper sometimes looked so _forlornly_ at his medical tools and refused to eat venison.

The way Usopp sometimes wished for _something more._

The way Nami sometimes sat in her mikan groves and refused to emerge until her face was dry.

Or the way ero-cook would sometimes look so _desperate_ in the night after dinner and could be found shovelling food down his throat.

They were the little things that someone wouldn't normally care to notice but there was _something_ ingrained into him to look after everyone, regardless of whatever might happen to him.

So instead of complaining about human projectiles, he hugged Luffy tightly and allowed the man to cling to him even as he turned to the door.

And there in the doorframe was a massive, hulking frame. Zoro would've been more concerned if the little warm feeling pooling in his gut was not present. Oh, and Sanji was standing next to the giant, nonplussed.

And then Luffy was squirming out of his grip like an eel and leaping over to Usopp and the moment was over.

Luffy bounced out of Zoro's grip, he loved Zoro. Loved him as much as a brother should, cos that's what Zoro was to him, a brother. Maybe they hadn't shared sake (it would feel wrong to share and he knew it) but they were still brothers, still nakama.

And it always hurt when he was alone from his nakama for extended periods of time. It was like they had… been sent away.

He didn't like that.

So, he excitedly asked Usopp about his latest drawing. "Ne, Usopp, can you draw that superhero?"

Usopp looked a little taken-aback. "What superhero?"

"Y'know, the one with the cape and mask and goggles." Luffy said before jumping onto his long nosed friend.

Usopp still looked confused. "That describes almost every superhero ever Luffy." He deadpanned.

"Ooh! I know his name! Sogeking!" Luffy said, so surely. "His name is Sogeking and _he travels from far away~_."

So, he sang the song bouncing around his head like a rubber ball, fingers itching to grab hold of an instrument. Usopp, having figured out what was happening and who he was talking about, gave Luffy a ride to their room.

It was more a room for everyone to crash – even Nami had her own bed in there. All of their beds fit into the one room and then they each had another room for their actual stuff.

They had all discovered not long after Sanji and Chopper joined their motley crew that they tended to sleep better when they were all together. So, instead of separate beds (sans Nami), all of the mattresses were stacked double and smashed together.

Doona's, blankets and pillows littered the massive bed. A result of multiple pillow fights and from their restless sleeping (Luffy was a cuddler).

Usopp grabbed his bag that was at the foot of the amalgamation and walked out into his own studio.

"So, who was the giant you brought home with you?" Usopp asked conversationally, as if it were a daily occurrence (kinda sad that it wasn't far from the truth according to Nami and Zoro) as he sat down on his stool, easel in front of him.

Luffy had yet to release him from his monkey grip and instead breathed into his neck. "His name's Jinbe and he's nakama."

Usopp almost, _almost_ sighed, such a name was only awarded to those with the highest honour.

But he didn't, because he felt the same pull he had felt when he had met Zoro, Nami and Luffy. Jinbe may be a stranger but Usopp knew it was only a matter of time until the man joined them.

Preferably moving in with them.

Usopp had lived in this town for a long, long time and he had never run into Zoro or Nami.

Or even Sanji or Chopper.

Somehow Luffy brought them all together.

Speaking of Luffy, he hadn't let go of his neck nor had he allowed Usopp to really draw.

"Ne, Luffy, if you don't let go of me I can't draw this 'Sogeking'." Usopp murmured, pulling out his paint, picturing the aforementioned superhero.

"Nng." Luffy groaned into his neck, breath hot on Usopp's neck. "We're having a party tonight."

"We are?! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why are we here painting?!"

Luffy shrugs, the movement evident on Usopp's back and Usopp sighed again. "Okay, do you wanna go get changed?"

"Mmm." Luffy mumbled but didn't move from Usopp's back.

Usopp sighed again and set down his paints, sealing them. He wasn't going to get much done either way…

He walked into Luffy's spare room – in the attic because Luffy was weird like that – and threw a yellow shirt and black leather shorts over his shoulder, sighing again when Luffy failed to catch them. "Luffy."

Luffy shook his head so Usopp sighed for the fifth time – wait, did internal sighing count? Oh well, he was counting it.

Gently Usopp slid Luffy off of him until the only part of the man left on him was his arms.

Usopp donned his own orange, striped board shorts underneath grey overalls and wrapped a star bandana around his throat. He turned back to Luffy who had changed within seconds, although, he was staring at his chest like there was something missing.

It was weird how Luffy did that, but Usopp couldn't fault him, he found himself looking at Luffy's chest too, and when he did he always felt strangely guilty.

Luffy's gaze was so solemn so Usopp grabbed his brother before he could be brought into one of _those_ moods.

They were rare but sometimes Luffy slipped into moments of deep, deep sadness. Usopp and everyone else hated it, and the only way to snap him out of it was bodily contact which he was willing to give readily.

So, that's what Usopp did, dragging Luffy out of the room and back downstairs where everyone had already changed.

Usopp looked around in deadpan. "That sure took little time…"

Nami smiled in victory. "Of course, you two have been gone a while… I was just about to send Chopper after you."

Usopp looked from the strung-up lights that had yet to come down since Luffy's birthday to the plates of food already being piled up.

"Chopper, why have you got milk around your neck?" Usopp asked incredulously.

"I'm trying a new dairy diet!" He claimed happily slurping at his beverage, the teen was wearing a cow onesie with a bottle of milk wrapped around his neck.

"Alrighty then…" Usopp muttered, dragging Luffy over to the make-shift bar that Nami always set up to limit their alcohol intake.

(Except for her and Zoro who always challenged each other to drinking contests… Nami usually prevailed…)

"Alrightio, Luffy, what do you want?"

Luffy tilted his head, thinking carefully, then his face brightened. "How about some coke?"

Usopp smiled and pulled the aforementioned drink over to himself, giving it right to Luffy.

"Hello Luffy-kun." Jinbe walked over to where they had situated themselves, taking a seat on the floor atop a pillow.

"Hey Jinbe!" Luffy said brightly, waving at him, suddenly he side-eyed Usopp and his eyes widened a little. "Oh! I haven't introduced you to my nakama yet, this is Usopp, he's really good at painting and things… And he's a great liar."

Usopp glared a little at the last part but took it good-naturedly. "Nice to meet ya Jinbe." He stuck out a hand, a little surprised by the softness of Jinbe's hands.

"And you Usopp-kun." Jinbe murmured.

"And that's Zoro!" Luffy gestured wildly – spilling his coke a little – to the green haired man who was currently bickering with Nami over what the best bourbon was, Nami appeared to be winning. "He's really strong and he can use three swords – he plays in kendo competitions. He really likes to sleep and drink."

As if Zoro could hear him he turned, eyes raised behind yellow shades and sent Luffy a _look,_ before he turned back to Nami to argue his case.

Luffy, nonplussed, continued. "That's Nami, she's really nice and she loves mikan and money – there's a grove out the back. She's also likes to steal sometimes, well, not sometime but-mmph!"

Usopp slapped a hand over Luffy's face before he could continue. Usopp cleared his throat. "She makes a living off creating maps."

Luffy rubbed his mouth and shrugged, next pointing at Sanji who was turning back to the kitchen to cook the main meal. "That's Sanji who you did meet today, he's the _best_ chef in the world. He likes to flirt a lot and smoke but Chopper doesn't let him…" The best was elongated to prove his point, accompanied by stretching of the hands.

"Chopper's his brother, the guy in the onesie. He's a doctor, not legally but he's the best I've ever met. He loves sweet things and pretends he doesn't like us complimenting us." Luffy finished, gulping the rest of his soft drink.

Jinbe, to his credit, barely looked confused by the influx of information. _And_ he had nodded to everything as if he understood. He was a keeper, Usopp decided.

The party ended shortly after midnight, and by that stage Jinbe had taken too much liquor to leave. So Nami, along with Sanji and Zoro, rolled the man onto a mattress they stole from upstairs.

But after that night it was sealed, Jinbe was going to move in with them. Luffy had decided and by this stage Zoro and Nami held no protests to who he brought home.

It just was a way of life.

Luffy hummed to himself as he walked by the river, he had gone exploring by himself today.

He felt like today was a good day.

It was currently the weekend, therefore no school, but everyone was busy working, well, except for Zoro, but Zoro was sleeping and Luffy hadn't wanted to wake him up.

So, he had packed a backpack full of essentials and left the house. He was going to meet up with Ace today for lunch but he had left pretty early.

Luffy should probably be studying but he couldn't find the energy to remember equations, to apply his knowledge of the Roman empire into an essay.

So he hummed his song and banged his stick to the ground in time. It was a fine stick, smooth and long, the end tapering off. It had some weird looking nobs up near the top but they were comfortable to wrap his hand around.

Finally, he found the end of the track and walked out of the national park, still clutching the stick. It was a man's romance to have one, after all.

The coffee shop wasn't too far away, and it served as a double for food. Breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and desert.

It was called Blue Door and according to Zoro; "Where all the hipsters go for their expensive avocado toast."

"I could make a dish out of your hair then." Sanji had replied, sparking a physical fight that had resulted in the lounge being tipped over – Nami had almost killed them for that…

He walked through the door, unbuttoning his red tailcoat revealing a blue shirt beneath. A few patrons turned and stared at the clashing of not two, but three primary colours (his shorts were yellow…)

"Oi, Luffy!" Ace called, waving him over to a two-seater table.

Luffy's face split into a grin and he all but ran to the table, he did leap at the older man, giving him a huge hug. "Hey Ace."

"Hi Lu," Ace said, voice muffled by… Luffy. "do you think you can let go of me?"

Luffy unwrapped himself and slid into his seat. "Sorry. How have you been Ace?"

Ace shrugged non-committedly, "Job's been busy."

He didn't elaborate and Luffy didn't expect him too, Ace was a firefighter and seemed to almost never have days off so their coffee dates were far between.

"How about you? You're doing your final year at school, right?" Ace asked, leaning back into his chair.

"Mm, I've actually got a couple of exams next week." Luffy replied, picking up the menu but not really reading it.

To his surprise Ace barked out a laugh. "Figures you wouldn't care about school, I didn't have much time for it either."

Luffy grinned, having started conversation Ace waved the waiter over. "Ne, I'd like to have your meat-lover pizza and your iced mocha, Lu, what do you want?" Ace broke off, making eye contact with Luffy.

Luffy grinned when he thought about it. "Five slices of avocado toast, with eggs and bacon please. Oh, and a salted caramel milkshake."

Ace grinned back at the waiter who jotted down everything hurriedly before rushing off. "I think we scared him away."

Luffy laughed. "Because of your face."

Ace mock-glared, managing to look offended at the same time. "I take great offence to that Lu, I happen to have a god-like face."

He flicked his hair in delusions of grandeur causing Luffy to giggle before bursting into peals of laughter.

As his hipster lunch came through Ace opened up a little on his home life, nothing too scandalous. Just a normal family that loved him a lot.

He shared the time that his family had taken him off to Japan for his 16th birthday. Buying him anything and everything he wanted – not that he asked for it.

Luffy didn't understand why (but he did, he really did) Ace hated his birthday but he was determined that he would make Ace feel good about himself.

Sooner than Luffy anticipated, they were upping and leaving from their table having devoured their food and exhausted their topics of conversation. "Mm, bye Ace! See ya next time."

Luffy waved at his brother even as he turned into a little blur into the distance – the only thing visible the shiny lustre of his Harley.

Ace smiled to himself on top of his bright red Harley, he loved Luffy, biologically, Luffy wasn't his first brother but his biological one had disowned himself and left the family because, and he quotes, 'You're all disgusting human beings and I hate you! I hate that we're poor! And I hate that you are always choosing Andrew over me!'

Andrew Michigan hadn't liked his family too much.

And Andrew hadn't fit into his name either.

Andrew had been the eldest in his family by about five years.

His parents doted on him… a lot. They loved him and something always twisted inside him at their kind words that he didn't deserve.

He was just a demon wearing a sack of skin. Why should he be alive? There was nothing in this world for him. He was just passing the days trying to fill the void inside of him. But nothing could fill it.

Nothing.

He had never felt like he belonged in such a wonderful family… they always gave him what he wanted, even if he didn't want it because he didn't think he deserved it.

He hated himself and he hated this life.

He hated school and he hated his classmates. They were all so… dull, and the fact that they always tried to bully him was pretty annoying too – especially when his narcolepsy kicked in and he would fall asleep on his desk (that was back before he took medication – it felt weird to take drugs for some reason).

He would wake up with a moustache on his face that would send him into a rage so intense that not even he knew where it originated from.

But sometimes he was able to perfectly execute pranks to get them back and in those moments, he felt a burning desire to _cook._ Despite literally the only thing he knew how to cook was meat…

(It was so annoying trying to force his hair into a pompadour…)

Other times he would zip through reports as if they were paperwork.

(He would get odd looks for the _yoi's_ on the ends of his words)

Or he would be able to hold an _insane_ amount of liquor – usually sake.

(People asked why his laughs were so weird afterwards…)

Sometimes his skin felt like it was hardened and he would bulrush his enemies, breaking their bones.

(And he always felt an intense rush of loyalty rush through him, for whom, he could not say)

On other occasions he would take up fencing as a profession and slice and dice as if he had been running through these drills his entire life. And sometimes he wanted to face _the_ strongest opponent in swordsmanship.

(Oddly enough he thought that roses would be appropriate in those stages when he was slicing through protective gear)

Ironically enough, he thought, looking back, there was quite a strong rookie kendo champion going around by the name Roronoa Zoro.

For some reason that name filled him with pride.

Other times he was able to fix just about anything…

(He wished to be in the sea in those moment but he also yearned for peace)

And rarely, he went shopping for makeup… he didn't know why but by this stage he gave into his little impulses.

(He was a man wearing makeup okay?! Nothing wrong with that, gimme my pistols)

But sometimes he was charismatic, charming people with simplicity and stupidness. Which was a weird combination.

(He always wanted to stretch in those moment, reaching for a moment he didn't quite understand.)

Other times he would become so _mad_ at the slavery and segregation going on in the world. He didn't understand why they couldn't all be equal...

(He hated rich bastards as well that only cared for their status)

There was just something missing from his life… not something. Someone, multiple people.

In his dreams, he lived a wonderland. Surrounded by people he loved and by two brothers who loved him.

His brother in reality, Reegan, hated his guts. It didn't matter that it was never his fault, his parents always favoured Andrew over Reegan.

Well not favoured, it was more that they'd do anything for him to be happy.

So, they took him to Japan for his 16th birthday, he was caught off guard by the pure love in their actions to keep him happy. So, he had played along, allowing them to buy him foods he knew all the names of, exchanging fluent conversations with strangers despite never knowing the language.

After the trip Reagan had been beside himself in anger, arguing that he would never get anywhere in life and that they were wasting their time with him. He also called his mother a bitch and his dad a freak-loving bastard.

He didn't exactly agree with his cruel words, the two had been nothing but kind to him but whatever.

Andrew drifted around life, ignoring those who tried to begin conversation. He never payed attention in high school until a fire fighter came to talk to their class.

He had payed attention to the man's words carefully, leaving school immediately when he found that he was able to complete other courses that would allow him to become a fire fighter.

He didn't like saving people, he preferred the thrill of having to be in such a situation that could potentially lead to his demise.

That and the fact that it was _fire._ Fire was amazing… no, those words didn't really justify the beauty of it.

He had always been obsessed with fire, eh, his brother always sneered 'Pyromaniac' at him but he didn't care. There was something mesmerising about fire. The way it could destroy but could save as well.

He loved it.

So he had become a badged fire fighter when he was 21 and immediately relocated from the metropolitan area out to the coast.

And that's where he ran into Luffy. Well, Luffy ran into him but the point stands. And when Luffy had asked for his name he had replied with a name that had been on the tip of his tongue for his entire life.

Portgas D. Ace. It suited him.

So he had agreed to come along with the kid, well, not kid anymore apparently. They'd drunk sake together, and for once, one of the figures in his dreams had solidified into…

The name was at the back of his lungs but he couldn't force it out no matter what despite how easily it had come to his lips before when they were exchanging sake.

He loved Luffy, he would be ready to lay his life down for him.

Luffy had given his life meaning and purpose and he was not just ready to give that away.

He wanted to be with Luffy for the rest of his life but he knew that Luffy wanted to have his own adventures, see the world with _his_ nakama.

But Luffy made him think that maybe, _just maybe._ The people of his wonderland were out there, waiting for him to come join them.

* * *

How was it? i hope y'all enjoyed. i didnt include all of the commanders in Ace's lil flashback to the things he can do because there's really not enough info for them - yes i could be creative and make it up but i couldnt be rn...

BTW im not gonna update for probably another week bc i do have exams that i should probably study for. Welp, cya next time!


	3. Chapter 3

sorry for the wait and the short chapter. I had a week of exams and it was just pure pain.  
Oh, btw, a doona is like a quilt. Sorry if ppl don't know what something is, if you don't, just leave a review and I'll add it in the next chapter.

* * *

Luffy smiled from the edge of the balcony.

It was a beautiful day today, blue sky clear of the black clouds that had persisted for weeks.

It would've been greater if their ground floor wasn't full of water.

The rain had poured down in buckets for more than two weeks, the poor coastline had been seriously eroded away and Luffy wasn't sure whether Jinbe's aquarium had survived.

And again, their ground floor was flooded. So right now they were all holed up in the shared room, throwing down in a game of cards against humanity.

When emergency services had tried to 'rescue' them, Sanji had politely told them (for a woman was aboard) that they had enough food to last them for a solid half year and he was a professional chef thank you very much.

So, the emergency services had turned away and left, disheartened and discouraged in their efforts to save the group.

Nami's mikan trees were currently living in a hastily constructed floating patch of soil, made by one Sanji and Usopp.

It was all quite foreign to Luffy, but he vaguely recalled Sanji and Usopp saying that the boat was constructed similar to that of the North men, or Norse if you didn't have time.

But then Luffy remembered _vikingr_ and listened a little more closely.

Luffy giggled, watching the sun glisten on the murky water.

Everything was so, _surreal._ And he loved it, if he pretended, he could see the ocean from his beautiful ship.

 _Their_ beautiful ship, he corrected.

"Ne, Luffy, gonna join us?" Zoro asked from the mattress. "We've finished cards against humanity, now the witch wants to play Uno."

He grinned, he knew how to play Uno.

"Mm, how long do you think it'll be before the water goes down Nami?" Luffy asked, slapping down a red 1.

"Probably a couple of days." She shrugged nonchalantly, making Zoro pick up four and changing the colour to… green.

Luffy frowned, "Do you reckon Ace is alright?" He didn't know why, but he felt… uneasy about being separated from his bother for such an incident.

The rest of his nakama looked up from where they were hiding their cards. They understood even if they didn't really.

It was the same way that Zoro sometimes glanced down at the white sword he always carried. Or the way the man was caught off guard by the utter _rage_ he felt towards stairs sometimes.

Or Usopp would sometimes call out for one of his parents in the night, hand raised to the ceiling as if saying 'Don't go!'

Or Chopper would sometimes go overboard if any of them so much as _coughed._ Like he wanted to prevent some kind of disease in the making.

Or Sanji would flinch away from them but at the same time need their touch as much as _breathing._

Or Nami would cry and cry and cry when she watched the news and another child was shown, orphaned as they were the spoils of war. It was so unlike her that the others didn't know what to do but offer her physical comfort.

Or Jinbe would watch Fisher Tiger with such _sadness_ and wish he could dive in with him.

It was just the small things like that that made them understand the unease rushing through Luffy like blood.

"Hmm, he's probably out helping others but if you want we could use the canoes in your room to go find him." Zoro offered, taking charge immediately.

Sanji, for once, nodded in agreement with Zoro. Anything to get that horribly wrong worried look off Luffy's face.

Luffy smiled tightly, he would love to. He was going to agree when he actually thought of the risks involved and almost punched himself – he didn't want to put his nakama in that kind of danger.

What if there were sharp objects that pierced the boats? What if there were crocodiles? What if they caught STI's from the water? What if-

He cut himself off. They would all be aware of the risks and besides, it wasn't his job to worry. That was Chopper and Usopp's.

With that final thought he nodded and smiled widely.

"Yosh, let's go for an adventure!"

Zoro chuckled and walked off to his own room.

The remainder of them also walked off to their rooms to dress in their appropriate clothing.

In less than five minutes they were changed.

Nami was clothed in an exposing hiking outfit, complete with a compass and whistle. Zoro wearing comfortable boots, jeans and a dark tank. Overalls and a long sleeved shirt adorning Chopper, he pulled his safari hat down a little tighter.

Usopp dressed head to toe in light-weight protective gear, including his hands and face with gloves and a baklava, respectively.

Sanji wore jean shorts and a sleeveless button down, he still managed to pull off the dress shoes.

And Luffy, well he was wearing red overalls with a blue undershirt. He shishied lightly as he pulled his own safari hat down and smeared war paint over his face.

Zoro wordlessly carried both canoes down from their storage and waited for Nami to secure them to the house before dropping them down onto the murky water below.

"Nami-swan, would you care for me to carry you down?" Sanji asked, getting down on one knee.

Nami swatted away the offered hand, "No thanks Sanji, I can get down by myself."

And without further ado she dropped into one of the three canoes, "Oi Luffy, get in this one."

Luffy laughed as he jumped through the air, relishing in the rush of adrenaline before he landed in the canoe, he nearly toppled over their canoe, Nami screeched at him as he apologised, still smiling.

Nami sighed and looked back up, for the mental sanity of their party, she made the executive decision of placing Zoro and Chopper together, leaving Sanji and Usopp paired.

Once everyone was comfortably settled Nami checked her compass again and spread her map out on the front ( _bow,_ his mind helpfully supplied) of the canoe.

"So, where did he say he lived?" She asked, pulling out a pencil from her breast pocket.

"Um." Luffy scratched his head under the safari hat.

"Let me guess," Nami said, a twinkle in her eyes, but voice frustrated. "he didn't."

Luffy nodded and Nami sighed, running a hand through her hair – it was growing longer, Luffy noted.

"Alright, we're gonna start off with checking out Jinbe's aquarium – to ensure that it's okay." Nami said, pointing at the location.

(Jinbe had moved to the aquarium less than a day ago, having claimed that it would be better for him to be there)

It had a shark sticker on top of it – courtesy of Chopper and several scribbles around it proclaiming it as the best aquarium in the world.

"Then we'll head to the emergency centres – they're built to last earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, you name it. If he isn't there then we'll have to search everywhere." Nami concluded, ticking off all points.

She looked very satisfied, Luffy thought as she yelled at the rest of 'em to 'Stop standing there looking pretty, we've got work to do.'

Zoro grumbled as he was asked but regardless, he sliced the ropes docking them, as per Nami's instruction.

Luffy giggled in euphoria as they whooshed! down the fast-paced current.

Nami watched the boy that had wormed his way into all of their lives in an excitement he clearly shared.

It really said something about how much they all cared for their safety that they would be willing and excited to jump into floodwaters.

She knew that emergency services would be having a fit if they ever found them. Actually, scratch that, _Ace_ would probably have a fit, he might understand their reasoning but he would still be understandably pissed about it.

Nami turned yelled out to the boys to lean to the left, quick to obey her orders, they all did so leaning over the edge of the canoe. It was the only way to control the way they were going against the strong flood currents.

Luffy whooped again, standing up in the canoe – half frightening Usopp to death – and throwing his hands up in the air.

Sooner rather than later – Nami _was_ the best navigator Luffy had ever known – they were attempting to slow down the canoes to ensure they would actually make it to Jinbe's aquarium.

That's when they realised that they had made a grave error…

The canoes would not stop for anything.

"Waah! We're going to die!" Chopper and Usopp cried together.

Nami sobbed as well, thinking of all the money she had yet to steal, of all the maps she had yet to draw.

Their canoes sped along the channel of water, ahead of them, the ocean.

Part of Luffy welcomed the idea of being on the open water, but he knew they shouldn't do it on boats _this_ big.

Then, from out of nowhere, two sleek, motorised boats zoomed in front of them, spreading a net between the two of the boats, there were weights hanging from the bottom of the net so that it sunk into the water and caught their canoes.

Both ships dropped anchor.

Luffy shishied as they were caught in the hessian woven net. A loud "Super!" resounded from the boat on the left and an enormous man extended his arm for each of them to climb aboard. "Come on ladies and gentlemen! The super~ Franky is here to get you folks outta here."

Without further ado, they climbed aboard the ship.

Luffy looked around in wonder at the olden style ship that looked so _new_ from the outside. It was just a façade, he decided, so that no one would question why he had such an awesome ship.

Luffy inspected the man a little closer as he yelled at the other ship to go on without him. He was approximately 6'3", just a _little_ above average. He was extremely buff, arms and legs ballooning outwards with muscles. His hair was blue and half a star was tattooed on each of his arms.

And even stranger was the fact that the man was wearing a raincoat but only a pair of speedos beneath it.

"Yo, I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" He said, sticking out his hand (it was only polite, a voice in his head reminded him).

"Superr Franky, at your service." Franky said gripping his hand firmly. He then leapt away to slam his wrists and arms together (so that's why they were only half stars…), how such a feat was possible with such arms, Luffy would never know…

As the rest of his nakama introduced themselves, Luffy watched Franky even closer, there was just _something_ about the man that made him wanna cry and scream super! with. So, Luffy decided, Franky was nakama.

"Mm, you're lucky I was called into the area, I live up coast and when I caught wind of the East Coast Low that flooded all of here… my skills as a shipwright were called upon!"

"You're a shipwright?" Nami asked curiously.

Franky nodded very seriously. "It's always been my dream to create the perfect ship…"

Usopp, Chopper and Luffy all jumped in the air crying cool!

"But I do have to say, y'all are crazy for trying to go _canoeing_ of all things in channels like this." Franky commented, surveying them through his small sunglasses, but then he pushed them up and said. "I like your style bros!"

"Is there any way that you could take us to our friends' aquarium?" Zoro interjected, crossing his arms.

Franky shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

Nami gave him the directions and Luffy quickly raced to the front of the boat and leapt up onto it, Franky looked like he was going to say something about safety but then he just shrugged and took the helm.

"Shall we?"

* * *

okay, you have no idea how freakin common floods are in some NSW (Aus) states. So i really have based this entire fic off NSW Australia because i live there. Sorry. Anyways, i havent done Franky justice here but i do hope to in the next chapter.  
Also, i apologise if there are grammatical errors, im very tired rn.


	4. Chapter 4

okay, SES stands for state emergency services and helps ppl when there are bushfires, floods, etc. not sure if that's an international thing so i just added it here in case there's any confusion left.  
OH AND there's a bit of substance abuse in this chapter so im probs gonna change the rating...

Flam Salibog was a simple kind of guy.

He lived a simple kind of life.

He grew up with his parents along the coast and before he was in school he was drawing until he found straight edges and begun to _design._

What he was designing was always a mystery, it was at the forefront of his mind but he couldn't place his finger on it.

At least, until he completed it and showed his parents.

They'd both been _astounded_ that their four-year-old son was capable of drawing such a masterpiece.

"Flam, do you have any idea what this is?" His mother had asked urgently, shaking the blueprints under his nose, the movements causing her extra rolls to bounce.

Flam had just shrugged like a normal toddler causing his mother's face to redden significantly. "Where did you find this son?"

"I did it." He said, proudly for the invention he did not know.

"Don't lie!" His father growled. "No four-year-old can draw a ship so complexly."

Flam frowned deeply, but he _had,_ he just drew it.

It had been an old itch scratching at the back of his neck, he had _needed to_ draw it.

The blue prints to a ship he had never seen…

Odd.

But, the drawings did not stop there, he _did_ realise that he should probably hide them from his parents.

So he hid the odd blue prints of designs for machines that was beyond his comprehension underneath his mattress and made sure that he had an ever-constant supply of cola – he didn't know why but he needed it.

Flam is 12 when he enters high school, a year younger than most of the students.

He gets in trouble the first day because he just _strips_ in the middle of class, claiming that the uniform is far too uncomfortable.

His parents are lovely people, just, sometimes they're a bit intense, they expect him to do well in school – in _all_ subjects and always not-so-subtly hint that he should go to a university rather than do an apprenticeship like he wants.

So it's probably that that leads him to start his own gang – well, gang is probably too harsh of a word, they're mostly kids like himself.

But they have started saving money to buy the materials necessary for a place of their own.

Flam thinks that they remind him of somebody he used to know he just can't – for the life of him – remember who they are supposed to be.

But, they intend to create their own house on the edge of the sea on stolen materials and gold belonging to those before them.

They won't kill 'cos that too violent, Flam supposes.

Flam is considered extremely weird even by other people's standards – he prefers to wear open Hawaiian shirt and speedos, or 'budgie smugglers' constantly.

But, there are no laws regarding what he can wear so he does it any way.

He is only refused entry on buses sometimes, but it doesn't matter either way, he walks everywhere.

The first time one of the misfits brings pot to one of their meetings Franky declines the offer – he has work to prepare for – then the next time he tentatively agrees.

By the third time he's the one asking for the weed and then somebody mentions LSD and he decides, why the hell not?

His hallucinations are mostly normal after the drug _really_ kicks in but then…

He wakes up five hours to tears streaking down his face and a name at the tip of his tongue.

It takes a while and one too many bad trips that Flam finally is coerced into seeing a councillor to deal with his…

'Flashbacks' his family had dubbed them.

Of course, his blood family had no clue of what he was doing behind closed doors, he didn't spend too much time at his family's house anymore.

They were oppressive, trying to force him to attend stupid school, why should he have to go to school? He was smart enough to live a life of crime without being caught…

Flam doesn't touch LSD after that… he might smoke a bit sometimes and drink cola like some of his gang down shots but that's okay.

He has a feeling he won't _need_ the LSD later on in his life.

And then…

By the fifth time they get noticed by the police parents are called on accounts of 'attempted robbery' – everyone knows that it's not 'attempted' but Flam 'coerced' the victim into keeping their trap shut.

"Flam? Is this true?" His mother sounds as angry as she did when he had said the blueprints were his.

Flam doesn't respond, his silence is enough.

"Son, why don't you tell us what's going on?"

His Dad always tried to bond with him, it was weird. He didn't like spending time with his parents, they made the world seem significantly smaller for some reason, like he was in some sort off cage.

"You're a very lucky young man, the person you assaulted doesn't want charges pressed but consider yourself warned." The police officer says, face completely serious before turning heel and walking out of their little cottage.

Flam shrugs, he doesn't care anymore, his 'family' of delinquents have bought all the materials they'll be needing to properly set up a house by the coast.

So, he begins to argue with his parents because _he wants to be free._

Eventually, gets himself half tattoos along his arms in the shape of a star, he doesn't know why but he does.

It's weird that they're only half stars but that's okay.

Flam gets another tattoo, on his back in the shape of a jolly roger, he doesn't know why he chooses a straw hatted one but he likes the look of it, the bones reaching the tips of his shoulders and his hips, the tattoo had cost little because one of the family already knew how to tattoo.

So, he thinks, as the tattoo is branded into his back, this tattoo represents his future.

But, back to the problem at hand,

There's plenty of land along the coast that they could claim as their own, the only problem with that is claiming it. They _could_ just steal it but technically, because the government owns it, it would be at a liability of being stolen any time.

So, instead they save up their pennies and work at any shop that will hire them, between them all, they manage to make about 10 grand.

It's enough for a smallish piece of land by the coast, after buying it off the 'crown' they begin to work.

First, the interior support atop a concrete slab. Franky is no fool, he knows how to build a house and by the time the shackish thing is built he's itching to paint it, but he needs a sign, anything he was trying to speak sounded, _wrong_ when it spilled from his mouth.

So, Flam leaves the sign alone and instead builds himself another workshop, beneath the earth because why not? It's not like anyone would be able to find it, nobody rarely comes out this way either way.

But just to be sure, he implants a retina scan and a fence around their property.

And then, the family builds themselves a new business under the name 'Flam Family Ships' and begin construction.

They're all good people and Flam enjoys working with them on ships of all kinds, the names come to his mind and he writes blueprints after blueprints to satisfy customers.

And, in his spare time he begins to build, at first, they're harmless little things – a self-controlled vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, things like that. But as he progresses he wants to really build something he can be proud of.

So, he buys the necessary materials and begins to build, it takes shape as internal implants, technically not internal implants but rather weapons that one could place inside themselves.

He begs and begs and begs until the family gives in and they sedate him as per his instructions and construct something on the inside.

Primarily the weaponry he'd been creating prior to the operation but also metallic plating to make it compatible with his body, nerve endings reconstructed to send impulses to the weapons.

His eyes are replaced with the best face recognition in the country, perhaps the world and outfitted with thermal and night vision – courtesy of their local tech-man; Bradley.

The eyes are used more than any part of his body. The weapons are sick but…

He doesn't _use_ them too often but every now and again he can subtly threaten a shitty customer by the metallic whirring inside of him.

His family thinks it's the coolest thing ever.

And then a man with purple hair arrives in town calling himself Iceberg, stating he wants to meet the shipwrights of the city.

"Iceberg Lana, huh?" Flam mutters to himself, flicking over the files one of the family – she calls herself Kiwi – gave him.

"Yup, as you can see he is quite wealthy, the mayor of a town who also builds ships in his spare time." Another, Mozu adds.

"Where does he want to meet?" He asks Morgan, a man with goggles always on his face, he likes to work with engines which is reflected by his greasy shirt and pants.

"In Birdy café, it's a little old thing run by some young'uns. Here's the address." Morgan adds, tapping on the map of their state on one of the walls.

"Hmm, I'll go in by myself. Did he say why he wanted to meet with me?" Flam glances at Zambai.

"Y'know how there's been that East Coast Low down south? I think he wants us to help out the people there."

Flam snorts derisively. "Does he even _know_ who we are?"

"Don't know… probably doesn't if he's seeking us out for help." Zambai comments.

So, Flam goes to the shop, it's on the corner of a very busy main road in a pretty derelict suburb, but despite this the shop is free of graffiti – minus the green flowery, teapot bush that has obviously been spray painted on the front of the shop.

Flam spots the idiot straight away. He's wearing a pinstripe suit and calmly sipping on some chai tea, Flam spotted him because of the facial recognition software but he knows that he would've been able to spot him either way.

The purple hair is a bit of a give away.

The waitress walks up to him, blowing up a piece of bubblegum. "Hi there Mr Salibog, Mr Lana is waiting for you over there."

"Thanks sister." He murmurs low, because the atmosphere of the little coffee shop is calm and relaxed.

Patrons are calmly sipping their drinks and… reading? Now that he thinks about it, he can see the book exchange over by the door.

It's… nice…

"Iceberg." Franky says, causing the man to look up from his newspaper and chai _latte._

"Mr Salibog." Iceberg gets up and vigorously shakes his hand. "Thank you for agreeing to see me."

Flam notices that the man doesn't care about his attire, come to think of it, nobody in the café is complaining about his speedos and open Hawaiian shirt.

"It's no problem." Flam answers, because truthfully? It isn't, he's going to make the bakaberg pay for anything he orders either way so hey, free food.

"Either way I thank you." Iceberg sits back down, Flam following suit.

"So, I hear that you are in the business of ships." Iceberg begins after the waitress has deposited Flam's cola and his cake, leaning forward and steepling his fingers.

Flam nods. "Well, as you are probably aware, down south has had quite severe weather, severe enough for extended flash flooding, I am hoping that a man with your expertise will lend a hand."

"Wait a second brother." Flam says incredulously. "Are you implying that I will be doing this out of the _goodness of my heart_?"

Iceberg chuckles humorously. "Of course not, my company will reimburse you appropriately."

It's Flam's turn to laugh. "How much?"

"200/hour."

Flam's jaw drops open. "You've got to be insane."

"Not in the slightest." Iceberg grins minimally.

"That's- all right then, if I'm robbing you blind then that's fine." Flam murmurs.

"When will you be ready?" Iceberg asks, opening his wallet and setting enough money to cover both customers.

"Brother, as soon as we get the ships." Flam assures and Iceberg arranges for him to get a lift back to his residential area.

"Everyone get your asses up we've got _work to do people_!" He shouts as loud as he can, banging his metallic arms on their concrete floor.

Half of the family growl and tell him in not-so-calm terms to politely _fuck off._

Flam sighs and without a second thought fires a single shot up into the roof. "Everyone _get up._ We're going to get _very_ good pay for this job so get your lazy asses out of bed!"

Finally _finally_ they rise and as a single entity proceed to drink the place dry of any caffeinated drinks. "Alright, we're ready to go!" They shout together.

"Where are we going bro?" Bradley asks.

"Down south to help clean up and save some of the stupid people in the floods." Flam replies, pulling on a raincoat over his attire. He downs a bottle of cola _just in case_ and stuffs three more in a bag.

Despite their grumbling protests ("Remember people, 200 per hour!") the family piled into the supplied cars and drove down to their port and more importantly, their ships.

"Alright, you guys take Hercules, Zeus, Poseidon, Goliath and I'll take this little beauty." Flam commanded, coming to a stop beside a sleek looking boat. "I need you guys to take this one." He gestured at the identical boat sitting next to his.

"This Iceberg guy said that we'll be looking for survivors, possibly stranded ones so be prepared to deal with possibly traumatised people." He called out.

"Whatever boss, let's just get going."

"Iceberg said he'd lead our little 'armada' on the sea." Flam said, making quotations on armada. "And since we sure as hell are men – and women of the sea we will show him the beauty of the _super~ Franky Family_!" He shouts, slamming his forearms together in a new gesture.

His family tilts their heads in confusion. "Since when are we the Franky Family?" Mozu asks, hands on hips.

"Since just then." Flam confirms and smirks, the name feels right anyway.

Kiwi rolls her eyes but they all like it, Flam can tell.

"Gear up, we're taking off."

And then they're meeting down along the coast with the local services; including firefighters and the SES (State emergency services) in a building quite removed from any possible flooding. The headquarters is located almost as far inland as the mountains and it was a pain in the ass getting the boats into such a secluded location.

But they manage, what kind of shipwrights would they be if they couldn't manage their own ships?

But even so, apparently this isn't even the shelter civilians are supposed to head to – this is just HQ.

The chief has a very thick black moustache and a goatee but only one man really stands out to Flam.

He's young, a scowl on his freckled face framed by curly black hair.

"This is Flam from the Flam Family Ships, I am Iceberg of Galley-law." The man introduces both of them and Flam pointedly ignores the comments about his attire.

"Now, we need to rescue those who were effected by flooding." The chief said, laying out a map, the affected area coloured in red. "We _tried_ to save a group of teenagers here, but they refused to leave."

The unusually hot firefighter's scowl deepened.

"Ace, you said you have a connection to them?"

"Yeah." The newly named 'Ace' answered. "I know all of the idiots."

The chief sighed. "Is there any way that they'd come if _you_ went?"

Ace shrugged. "There's no way to know, they're all lunatics."

"I could patrol that area, y'know, in case they try and leave on their own." Flam offers, if they were being payed so much the least he could do is actually help.

Ace groans again and mutters something that sounds suspiciously like 'stupid little reckless brother'. "They _would._ "

The chief sighs heavily again, stroking his bushy black moustache. "Alright Flam, take as many people as you can spare and I'll allocate the rest of your business to different areas."

"Aye aye." Flam says and turns away.

Ace turns to him and pulls him aside before he can leave the building. "Oi, thank you for doing this," the firefighter rubs his head nervously and ploughs on before Flam can get a word "Luffy is my only family and I don't know what would happen if he died."

Flam doesn't feel embarrassed, he doesn't know why, if it was anyone else he'd already by feeling awkward, but with this man, it seems… natural?

"Don't sweat it, but if I might ask, why didn't you go before?" Flam questions, if the guy loved his brother that much then why sit around and wait?

"Because the chief wanted my expertise elsewhere."

"Expertise?"

"Before I'm a pyromaniac I can also perform first aid without the aid of a hospital." Ace says.

"Huh." Is all he can say.

"Anyways, thanks again!" Ace calls over his shoulder and walks away.

Flam stands there dumbfounded before he makes his body move to where he anchored the beautiful Mayflower.

"Alright baby, let's go." He murmurs to the purring engine before he turns to the other ship. "Alright! We're doing a quick sweep but these are floodwaters, be careful!"

And then they're off, quickly getting out of the headquarters and back into the murky floodwaters, they use the currents to get to their destination a lot quicker.

And just in time by the looks of things because Flam can see three… canoes? (!) speeding down along the current, edging closer to the open sea.

Flam orders the other ship to go to the other side through their two-way radio and between the two they manage to drop anchor and the net simultaneously to stop the reckless fools from an early, watery grave.

"Get on board!" He shouts and they're quick to comply.

"Superrr _Franky,_ at your service!" And he is quick to slam his forearms back together, forming a full star.

And the name he has been waiting for all of his life spills from the boy's lips.

So, Franky – Flam was never his real name anyway – takes them to the Aquarium they desire because why the hell not?

In the process, he sends the others away for a status report.

"Oi, Luffy-bro, there was a guy who was pretty pissed off about you staying at home." Franky comments as he steers the ship around a sunken truck.

"Was he by any chance named Ace?" Luffy asks, stars gleaming in his eyes.

"Yeah."

"Shishishi, I'm glad he's safe." Luffy says and pulls the safari hat down further on his eyes.

Franky observes the boy for a moment before shrugging. "What is he to you?"

"He's my brother." Luffy closes his eyes, clearly enveloped in some deep memories.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." And then the boy smiles and Franky can't help but smile along with him.

"Oi, Franky, we're almost here." The self-appointed navigator says, glancing down at her compass and the map in her lap.

"Super!" He cries, the water is beginning to become much shallower and Franky doesn't know if they'll be able to make it much closer.

As soon as they approach the falling apart aquarium, Franky frowns. He doesn't know why, but it hurts his very soul to see it falling to pieces.

Luffy is the first to jump out into the ankle deep – possibly crocodile infested – water and begin crying out. "Jinbe!"

Soon after the rest of the misfits join him and begin to cry out for their friend. Before long they're approaching the front door and Franky watches in awe as an enormous man walks out of the building.

His eyes are puffy and red, and he seems to be shaking. The members of the boat abruptly pause in their moments before Luffy continues onward, Franky shouldn't listen; it's a private conversation…

 _"Jinbe."_

 _"Luffy-kun."_

There isn't anything said for several minutes. _"What happened?"_

 _"Fisher Tiger he… escaped."_

 _"I see."_

"Y'know, it isn't nice to eavesdrop." The green haired guy comments, literally appearing next to Franky who has to fight the urge to withdraw weaponry.

Strangely enough, he feels safe around the guy anyway.

"Can't help it, I've got some enhance hearing." Zoro chuckles lightly at that.

"You coming?" Zoro asks as he hops over the side of the boat.

"Not onto that side…" Franky mutters and waits for the other shoe to drop.

"Shit, wrong side…" Zoro flushes crimson and instead of walking around the ship like a normal person or even climbing over the side of it, the grumpy looking man just _leaps_ over the boat casually.

Like it's something he does every day.

Usopp, Chopper and Nami have already reunited with the large man and were comforting him.

Franky frowns, he _wants_ to be a part of whatever is happening here, he hasn't felt so safe ever _in years._

So he jumps over the side of the ship, ensuring that they're anchored correctly and wonders over to their little group.

Nami and Chopper move a little to give him some space to join their circle as they comfort the man.

And there is nowhere else Franky would rather be.

that's franky done and i hope y'all enjoyed, the next chap should be up in a couple of days. also, Franky's last name was kind of mixed version of the Japanese word for cyborg


	5. Chapter 5

holy shit, it's been too long, it really has, im sorry yall but im trying. ive got another WIP if youre interested in a crossover but im pretty deep into that (over 100K and going strong) and i should've updated that before this but whatever.

if there's anything anybody doesn't understand within the chapter let me know and i'll edit my notes (it's based on australia and we're different to other countries so please let me know if there's something you don't get)

"We should leave before it gets dark, I'm sorry about your friend but I don't think that there's much I can do…" Franky says.

Jinbe heaves a sigh and nods, like he expected this all along and allows himself to be led back to the shiny boat.

Luffy watches Franky out of the corner of his eyes, the man seems to be fighting tears.

(He doesn't point it out because he would just deny it)

Luffy already likes the guy.

There's something drawing them all to the man, with his skin that seems to be synthetic and the tattoos inking their way across the waxy skin.

Even his cyan hair – which was weird but then again, they hung out with a green haired man.

So, they piled into Franky's superrrr~ awesome boat and floated away, hitching one of the storm currents back to this so called 'HQ'.

They were sailing underneath a patchwork blanket of orangey, pinky sky as the sun slowly sunk into the murky depths of the horizon.

And soon the evening turned to night and a hung moon slowly inched its' way up over an inky black sky, stars blinking into existence, peering down on their small boat.

Luffy likes the sky, especially the night sky, the stars deserve reverence, because really, it's infinite out in space and it makes him appreciate the life he has _here_ amongst his friends.

The winding way of the river becomes a challenge when a fallen tree hinders their path but Franky just smirks, anchoring their ship and lifting the tree out of the way like it weighs the same as a feather.

The water here is still as murky but the current is less strong, but seeing as they're going _up_ they have to use Franky's motor which turns out it's mostly working on the emergency supply of cola Franky has stashed away.

"All of my ships are outfitted with a converter that allows it to be run by cola, however, I don't go around telling people that." He said proudly, steering them through the bends and easing into the dock where several other ships of similar design are anchored.

As soon as they arrived Luffy jumps off the ship onto the dock and bounces up and down on the shore impatiently. "Oi~! Come on guys!" He cries.

A fireman walked outside of the premises, as if he was posted there to ensure anybody who arrived did so safely, looking at the group he seemed to just sigh before waving them in. "So y'all are the crazy lot that thought they could just wait on out these flooded waters?"

"We were pretty well off until we decided to check up on Jinbe." Nami said absentmindedly, fixing her clothes, who knew when she would need to seduce a man for his money.

The fireman sighed. "You've had one of our firemen very worried about everyone, I presume he's a friend?"

"If by 'he' you mean Ace then yeah, we are, he's Luffy's brother as well." Zoro answered.

"Ain't no Ace here." The fire-man mutters but doesn't bring up the subject again.

Finally, walking inside the premises the fireman led them to a dimly lit bunk setting where several families were huddled together, the mess hall (that's what Nami called it) branched off into other little rooms where he presumed they were supposed to sleep. "Who are they?" Luffy asked.

"Families of our workers." The fireman shrugged. "I understand the feeling but I trust the other centres. Y'all will be allocated seven beds right in here, Franky, if you want to come join us for a progress report."

"Right, thanks." Usopp said, immediately claiming the top bunk of one of the beds.

Franky looked torn, glancing back at the family he had already carved out behind him. "Oi, Franky, if you want to join us later then go for it, shishi."

And with that little laugh abating his fears Franky slams his _slightly_ metallic arms together and cries. "Super~! Thanks Luffy-bro!"

As soon as the fireman has left Luffy hops off the top-bunk of his and Zoro's bed (it was unanimously decided that Sanji was with Usopp, Chopper with Jinbei, Nami claiming the single bed and Zoro paired with Luffy) and declared. "Right, I'm going to go find Ace."

Very seriously Nami looks up from the map she snagged off the fireman and says simply "No."

"Why not?" He whines, because, if they were setting out to find Ace in the first place then why couldn't he explore the crazy cool bunker?

Nami pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. "I don't want any of you to get us kicked out of here, now, Luffy if I lose si-"

There's a knock on the door, cutting off Nami who sighs and opens the door.

"Howdy, I'm Billy, my wife called us in here." Judging by her heavily accent and the tourist-y shirt of a kangaroo and boomerang, Billy was not from around here

"Hello _ma Cherie_." Sanji bowed dramatically.

"Tch, pay no attention to the stupid love-cook, he just has curls for brains." Zoro says, ignoring the heated protests from said cook. (at least until he brought moss for brains into the argument)

Billy smirked at the duo like she knew something they didn't. "It's no problem, who are y'all here for anyway?"

Chopper flops off the top bunk, miraculously swinging into Jinbe's hulking frame, said hulking frame drops the pebbles he was holding with a grunt but holds onto the teen nonetheless, a muffled murmuring sounds from Jinbe's chest and he sighs.

"Chopper says we're here for Ace, Luffy's brother."

Billy frowned. "I don't know any 'Ace's' here…"

"Well, that's just his name." Usopp said, almost defensively.

"Alright, don't mean to offend, I'll be off now and I pray that god is with you in this awful situation."

Most faces twisted a little as soon as she was out of sight. "Yeah, god, like they had anything to do with this." Zoro muttered.

Nami sighed and went back to her examination and memorisation of the map before realising that beyond the soft (not really, they were _loud_ ) bickering of Zoro and Sanji, the shuffling of Chopper and Usopp as they wrestled and the _chink_ of Jinbe's pebbles, she could not hear any Luffy-related noises.

And now that she thought about it, he had been unusually quiet during the time Billy had walked over. She groaned, putting her face in her hands, why couldn't _ever_ anything go according to plan?

"Oi! You numbskulls!" She cried, smashing the two idiot's heads in. "We've got a problem."

"Oh no!" Chopper cried leaping from the bunk for the second time of the night and landing on his feet. "What's wrong? Are we going to need a doctor?"

After taking a deep breath Nami calmed slightly, "What's wrong, Nami?" Jinbe asked, still rolling the pebbles around in his hand – it was oddly soothing not that Nami would admit it.

"We're missing Luffy."

"Oh yeah, he snuck out during Billy's talk." Sanji said, not realising just how far he had dug his own grave, Zoro, for his part, merely smirked at the stupidness of the man.

Well, not even stupidity, just that the idiot didn't know when to _not_ answer the witch.

"Oh?" Nami says, deceptively calm.

Chopper begins readying his meagre medical supplies as Sanji continues, "Yeah, he went exploring."

Sighing the man begins to fidget, obviously craving a cigarette, he's knocked straight to the ground – the modest rug doing little to protect the man from the stone concrete beneath.

He twitches for a moment and Chopper tends to the man's wounds.

"Godammit, Zoro, go after Luffy." Nami said, heaving out a breath, seeming to calm down.

"Whoa! Is it really a good idea to send _Zoro_ after Luffy?" Usopp asks incredulously.

Nami waives his protests, "Zoro has an inbuilt Luffy-radar, if it helps you sleep at night, Jinbe, go with Zoro."

Jinbe just nods and stands, his geta clunking against the floor as he joins the directionally-challenged swordsman. "Shall we?"

Grumbling, Zoro complies.

"I'm going to punch her in the face at some stage, I can feel it." Luffy nodded to himself, thinking of the woman who had approached their group, she hadn't _felt_ nice.

He'd stopped worrying about why he disliked people after one of his teachers had ended up being a hoarder of child pornography – Luffy had never payed attention to the geography, per say, but rather waiting for him to make his move.

And when police stormed the man's flat and he was arrested they all received a long talk about what to do if the man _had_ done something to them.

Apparently, it was confronting for a few of the children and they complained to their parents who then chastised the police and the school…

It had all been a big mess, that's his point.

But, back to the matter at hand, he didn't like the smug, self-imposed grin on the woman's face.

Now that he thought about it too, maybe Ace's name wasn't actually _Ace,_ even though his name fit it might not be his _real_ one, the 'official' one written on fancy paper.

Luffy shrugged, well, Monkey D. Luffy wasn't really _his_ real name, was it?

Just the one he stuck with.

Coming out of his thoughts he lithely slipped into a conjoined corridor, this place was _huge._ It reminded him of a marine base, which was weird, because he had never been inside a marine base before.

Hearing footsteps approaching Luffy ran into yet _another_ corridor – they needed some pictures, or maybe some windows.

The entire complex was lit from top to bottom with fluorescent lighting, causing harsh shadows to form from the few fire alarms and extinguishers along the walls.

"Now, I just gotta follow Franky's smell and I'll find their HQ." He muttered, he'd been following the distinct smell of Franky.

It was hard to describe the man's scent but superficially, he smelt like cola (did that even have a smell?), ozone and metal.

Scratch the surface and he smelt like _nakama._

Sighing again, Luffy dropped to the linoleum floor, sniffing cautiously, ignoring the other smells of bleach and…

Mmm, was that…

Meat?

Grinning he followed the familiar scent, it _had_ been a while since he wolfed down their provisions.

And, it had been hard to cook any kinds of meat when they were trying to keep themselves _away_ from the floodwater, when Jinbe had left Luffy almost went with him but then they unanimously decided that it would be okay, the man needed to do it himself.

But whatever, he hadn't had juicy, tender, delectable, _meat_ in _forever._

Running through the halls similar to a dog hunting prey he skidded to a stop in front of an unbelievable sight.

Zoro and Jinbe were spraying deodorant around the hallway but more importantly _there was no meat._

"Oh, hello Luffy-kun." Jinbe said, putting the 'deodorant' away somewhere within his kimono.

"I told you it would work." Zoro says, turning to Jinbe before turning back to Luffy, "Don't run off you idiot, the witch got angry." Zoro chastises, punching him in the head, _hard._

"Ow! I wanted to go find Ace and explore."

"Why don't we explore with you?" Jinbe suggested.

Luffy contemplated it for a second before grinning widely, he leapt at the bulky man who only grunted a little at the human projectile.

"Stupid idiot, one day you're gonna hurt yourself doing that, or someone else, it's not like you're made out of rubber." Zoro growled.

"Where's the meat?" Luffy suddenly asks, feeling Jinbe tense up a little.

"There was no meat, I'm afraid, Luffy-kun." Jinbe says, jostling the boy a bit so he fit better on his back.

Flopping his head he moans, "But I'm so hungry. Can we go find Ace at least?"

Zoro and Jinbe exchange a quick glance, "Yeah, might as well."

"That way, onward, my trusty steed!" Luffy giggles, pointing to one of the hallways.

Jinbe grins and hops a little through the hallway, Zoro wandering with a content smile on his face.

Eventually they do end up at HQ, but it's hours later and all three are ready to flop down on their beds or maybe squeeze some training in before hitting the hay.

"What are you three doing here?" Moustache-ossan asks – Luffy decided he was moustache-ossan because of the thick black moustache and the little… what was it? Goat-tie?

Probably, commending himself on remembering the name he walks forward to the chief but before he can get a word edgewise there's a heavy load barrelling into him and all he can smell is _spice, and fire_ but more importantly, Luffy knows who it is.

Allowing his brother to give him some affection he twists his body in Ace's hold and hugs him back, the chief raises a thick eyebrow and sighs heavily. "I suppose this is the little brother that decided to brave storm waters in nothing but canoes."

Pulling back Ace blushes a little before nodding, it's the shyest Luffy has seen him and he frowns, but discreetly, okay, it might not be discreet but it's the thought that counts right?

Jinbe chuckles at the pair, "I think that a 'chewing out' is in order, is it not Ace?"

Ace's eyes snap to the man, surprise flickering through them before he turns back to Luffy. "Why-"

"Maybe take this somewhere else, the facility has plenty of mostly private places, 'Ace'." The chief rolled the nickname around his tongue before continuing. "I relieve you from duties for today, we can discuss strategy in the morning, Flam and Iceberg, you're both dismissed too."

Nodding, Franky and Iceberg followed the group to a mostly secluded area – well, Iceberg shook Franky's hand, said the money would be in his account and it was good working with you.

The trio remaining go stand a little whiles away, giving the brothers some privacy.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Ace almost shouts, except it sounds strangled, like he's trying to be quiet, Luffy just shrugs.

"We wanted to go on an adventure and we wanted to stay with the house." He answers the unasked questions.

Ace looks skyward as if looking for an entity to help him, Luffy thinks it's funny when one of his nakama does that.

But Luffy doesn't want his brother worrying because now that Ace has stopped shaking in anger he's just shaking, hands trembling as he rubs through his hair.

A lifetime of promises come to Luffy's tongue but he doesn't urge any of them out, nobody can truly keep promises in this day and age (or ever really) so he just clings to Ace again who surprisingly just accepts the comfort.

"I'm still alive, Ace."

"Yeah, I guess you are." And with a final sigh, the tension spills out of his body. "I can't make you not stop crazy shit but please stop doing _heart-attack inducing_ shit."

"Shishishi, I can't make any promises."

Ace sighs before ruffling his hair. "I suppose you can't."

Grasping the man's hand despite the full embarrassment flushing his face, Luffy bounds back over to the trio and places him out in front of the duo. "Jinbe, Franky, this is my brother Ace, he's pretty cool, _for a fireman, yohoho._ He is a bit of a hothead too, but he rides a _super~_ cool motorbike and has tats." Luffy gushes.

Franky and Jinbe grin, sticking out a hand each for him to shake. "Ace, Jinbe is the owner of the big aquarium in town, he's nice and knows karate."

"Pleasure to meet you Ace- _kun,_ " Jinbe says, and Luffy thinks that the pair met in another life because they both eye each other sadly before nodding over something only _they_ understand.

"And this is Franky, he has metallic arms and some weapons hidden inside, he's a shipwright!" Luffy introduces, ignoring the surprise flickering across his brother's face at the mention of the cyborg modification.

"Oi, Luffy-bro, you know about my modifications?" Franky asks in a serious tone.

Luffy blinks, because what he does? That's so cool! "You're a cyborg?!"

Franky releases a sigh and shrugs. "What the hell, why don't we just go with it?"

"Are you seriously a cyborg?" Ace asks, a barely hidden peek of his carefully reserved 'man's romance' coming through.

Franky just glances around the hallway to check that they're truly alone before tugging at the skin of his finger, he pulls the synthetic skin off like a glove, revealing the cold metal below.

Luffy is basically drooling at this stage because _holy shit Franky is a cyborg he is_ _definitely_ _my nakama._

Ace voices his opinion, "Holy fucking shit you actually are, do you just have weapons hidden inside you?"

Even Zoro and Jinbe are enthusiastically gawking the dudes metallic arm because _cyborg,_ hello, this is all part of a man's romance, including hiking with the appropriate stick and swinging across ravines on vines while screaming into the abyss.

(They had attempted so once and were lucky the vine didn't just snap, Nami had beaten them all up afterwards but that's okay, it was worth fulfilling their man's romance)

Finally, Zoro was the one who voice the genuine concern, "I guess we should get back before the witch eviscerates us."

"Oh yeah, Nami's going to be pissed huh?" Luffy grins sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Zoro huffs and turns around. "Let's go before she decides to do worse."

"Yeah, maybe she'll just end up hanging us with our intestines." Luffy ponders, causing the rest of the group to shudder at the thought.

"God, so graphic." Franky mutters under his breath.

Zoro just shrugs of his cringe and keeps walking in a random direction, Jinbe frowns and glances at Luffy, "Is it wise for Zoro to be leading us?"

Luffy tilts his head for a minute before laughing and dragging Zoro back next to Franky, "You'll just get us lost."

Ace takes the lead and walks silently towards the group dorms.

As soon as they walk inside the door way into the low murmur (just kidding, Usopp and Chopper were making a cacophony, Nami almost as loud when she was trying to get them to _shut up_ ) Nami gets up and punches Luffy to the floor.

"You idiot!" She screeches, "You can't just walk off like that, especially if we're in a facility like this."

"I'm sowy." He says through the thick bruising and eggs on his face.

With a satisfied nod, she turns to see who else walked in, "Ah, hello Ace and Franky."

"Hi, Nami-sis." Franky says, slightly cautiously because _damn._

At least Ace has the decency to take it in stride and greet her like an old friend.

"Thank you all for looking after my brother." He says politely, bowing down to them all.

His nakama just sheepishly take his words to heart and sway this way and that, declaring that it was no problem at all.

Ace grins again. "Anyways, since most of the houses were completely swamped during the floods, unless you guys have insurance, I don't think you'll have a house for a while, the floods are expected to drop within the next two weeks."

Nami smirks and Luffy thinks of the sharks in Jinbe's aquarium when they were fed _exactly_ what they wanted. "No worries, I managed to land us some good insurance a while back."

Zoro mutters indiscreetly to Usopp "She talked the guy out of charging us 75% of our insurance."

Luffy grins at that, good ole Nami and her money thieving ways, his eyes are drawn back to Franky as the man nervously shuffles, he opens his mouth a couple of times but it always snaps open with a soft click.

Finally, after many moments have been and gone, Franky says. "I can build you guys another house."

All eyes snap to him and he says it a little more firmly. "I can make you a house of your dreams – no strings attached."

"Really?" Chopper and Luffy cry at the same time, because it sounds _way_ too good to be true, Nami being the most sceptical of them but unable to deny her primal urge to _take what is free._

Ace smirks at their gobsmacked expressions. "I'll go grab my stuff, then we can all crash here for the night."

Luffy gives him another hug, eyeing him as he leaves the room and then when he's out of sight, returns his attention to Franky.

"Look, I don't know whether this is going to sound stupid or not but, I feel like I know you guys, like I've met you before and whether or not you guys feel the same, I _want_ to build you the best godamn house you will ever be inside."

It takes a moment but then Luffy is flinging himself at the man, surprised at how comfortable he feels despite the amount of metal hidden away in parts of the man that Luffy probably will never see.

Franky, to his credit, only makes a little sound of his breath leaving his lungs before he is hesitatingly hugging the man back.

"On one condition." Nami says, because she has always been able to read Luffy's mind. "You live with us."

Franky just grins and says. "You people are crazy but why the hell not?"

And it's going to be okay, Luffy thinks as he grins into the man's shoulder, they may be missing people but bit by bit they are regaining them and soon,

He's going to meet his other brother, and then maybe Ace won't be as sad as he is when he finds his own family because while Luffy is still his brother, he knows that Ace is missing this people of his wonderland.

So, maybe one day they'll be able to have a _massive_ party when they've met everyone they want to meet and it'll be okay.

 _Everything will be fine._

how was it? as a side-note, i have got no fucking clue how many more chapters im going to write for this, ive kind of got an idea of what the ends gonna look like but who knows how long that'll be *shrugs* i sure as hell dont know.


	6. Chapter 6

_hnn, am i updating this more frequently? i probably shouldnt be lmao, i have two assignments due, one of which is a 2000 word essay but it's fine, gotta squeeze some crap out for you guys, besides, it came to me._

The floods of December end and they are left with a hell of a lot construction to complete in not so much time if they want to be ready before winter strikes the country.

But then again, winter doesn't actually start until July, the other 'winter months' are really just summer and then bam! It's suddenly winter, freezing cold and if you aren't used to it, you could possibly die in your sleep.

But hey! That's all fine and dandy.

Franky is a super worker, Luffy thinks, watching from the sidewalk as he constructs the house of their dreams right beside Jinbe's aquarium which he had also promised to fix up as a favour to them.

They salvage what they can from their old house and move into the aquarium temporarily because it's pretty much the only thing that was _almost_ unaffected considering its' position by the cliff which then leads to the water below.

Franky's family are pretty awesome though, they're all super~ quick at following their bosses orders by moving _with_ him.

And that's keeping up with a cyborg, mind you.

School resumes and the teachers question him about his absences, he's been gone too long, with too little explanation.

He just shrugs and tells them the truth.

He couldn't be bothered.

He doesn't know what he wants to do as an adult but he wants to stay with his nakama.

"Ah screw it." Considering that his grandparents are pretty chill with his life he calls Nami and tells her his plan.

"Alright, let's go."

They arrive at one of the local hotel's where his grandparents are staying and knock politely on their door instead of barging in like usual. "Luffy! Nami! Come on in!" His grandpa booms, opening the door, "'scuse the mess, we're trying to prepare for when we can move back into our home."

"No problem." Nami grins easily and eases her way through the stacks of boxes labelled 'books', 'photos', 'pots', there's a lot, and a few of the stacks are almost ceiling height so they're _extra_ careful not to bump any of the boxes.

"Luffy!" His grandma pulls his into a hug which he relaxes into and hugs her back.

"Hi Nana." He grins into her back, he's taller than her now and it's slightly surprising but not really because he has Sanji as a cook.

"Would you like a cup of tea or coffee? Or maybe juice?" She asks, standing in front of her lavender-patterned arm-chair and pats their arms, guiding them gently to the round table near the kitchenette area.

"Can I have some juice please?" He asks, glancing at Nami.

"You don't have to make me-"

"Nonsense, you've been looking after our grandson so well Nami, it's the _least_ I can do." She insists, bustling around the kitchen, "Now, what kind of tea would you like, we've got, chai, green, lemon and ginger, rose petal and rosemary."

"Could I please have a chai tea?" Nami finally said, after pondering through her choices.

She gestured for them to sit and his Grandpa was quick to follow, "Now, I know that you're not here for just an idle chat so why don't we get down to business, hmm?"

"Mm," The kettle whistled and Lilian hobbled over to retrieve it, finally setting down a milky honey chai tea and Luffy's orange juice, she sets down some cinnamon biscuits before sitting down herself, "What's the matter, dears?"

"Well," Luffy picked the hem of his sleeve nervously, his grandparents had been supporting so far but what if this is what tipped them over the edge?

Gregory leant forward and placed a slightly calloused hand over his, "It's okay, whatever you have to tell us, we won't be mad."

Nami smiled encouragingly, one hand holding her tea, the other squeezing his hand under the table "I want to drop out of school." He blurted out, gulping down some of the orange juice to quench his suddenly dry throat.

Lilian and Gregory exchanged a glance before returning their gazes back,

He held his breath, waiting for the inevitable, "Is that all? I thought it was going to be worse than that." His grandpa laughed and Luffy sagged in relief, he didn't know what he would do if they had finally ripped him away from his nakama.

Lilian lightly slapped her husband's hand before gripping Luffy's in her own, "Why are you dropping it? Entertain an old woman like myself."

He shuddered, "I hate the pressure, I hate the lack of freedom, and I don't know what I would do even if I did complete high school."

They blinked at him, "That's fine dear, neither of us completed high school, we both hated it as much as you did, the only reason we're living comfortably is because your grandpa used to be a roady for plenty of rock and roll bands and they payed him quite handsomely for doing such an excellent job."

"And besides, Luffy will always have a place with us, regardless of whether or not he has a job, most of us are completing school and have well paying jobs, Jinbe owns the aquarium, once Franky fixes it up, we'll have a steady income, so we'll always be economically stable." Nami explains, not letting go of his hand despite how sweaty it's become.

They laughed, "Seriously, it's okay, as long as your happy, Luffy."

"Really?"

"Yeah, now, I know your parents probably never did it but, Luffy, maybe soon you'll notice your body changing."

"He's already had the talk off Zoro." Nami explained, giggling.

"Oh thank god." Gregory clutches his heart in mock relief.

"I'm not going to have children." He feels the need to say.

"Okay. If you don't want to it's not like we're going to pressure you to do it." They explain, smiling gently. "Luffy, we understand, you're more of a free soul than anything."

"Now, we'll be moving back in, in a week so if you want to come over for dinner you should bring all of your friends, I can make anything." Lilian specifies, smile crinkling the edges of her eyes.

"Thank you both so much." He murmurs, voice thick with emotion.

"Don't sweat it." They all stand up and he finally let's go of Nami's hand, reaching for their affection.

"Now run along and go have fun." They basically force them out of the hotel room, venturing through the precarious path marked by the boxes.

"That was actually pretty easy." Luffy says, staring off into the distance as Nami drives.

She hums in agreement, turning into the aquarium's car-park.

They find everyone where they usually are, on the roof of Jinbe's aquarium, looking up at the construction, Franky has been working day and night on it and has yet to sleep, they're seriously considering just forcing him to come down.

So far the building has been built approximately five floors in total and it's not made of cheap wood either, Franky reckons it's the strongest in the world and who are they to question his decision?

Zoro is snoozing, Chopper curled into his side studying his notes, he aced his finals with flying colours but he assures them that that is no reason to relax his studies.

"How did it go?" Sanji asks quietly.

"They're fine with it." He grins widely and his crew collectively sigh in relief.

"Mm, we should be able to work in Jinbe's aquarium but I'm not sure how a doctor can be incorporated into it." Nami says, flicking through the places she needs to cartograph.

"Ne, Nami, why don't you ever go overseas to draw your maps?" Luffy asks suddenly, everyone looks up in surprise because, it's a valid question.

She blushes a little, "Because I don't want to, I have everything I need here."

It's obviously a lie but none of them will call her out on it, although, Zoro sighs in his sleep and makes a mental note to start a bank account for the witch's holiday, she deserves one.

Usopp smiles regardless, lying flat on his stomach and carefully painting something of red and yellow.

He collapses on top of Sanji who just grunts but makes room for him regardless, stubbing his cigarette, he knows that Luffy hates the smell.

Luffy curls into the man's clothes, inhaling his after-shave and the spices that cling to his clothes after a day at working at the restaurant.

"Don't sniff me, _baka_." He murmurs.

And it's perfect, the sun slowly sinking into the sunset, casting an orange and pink glow over their faces.

They all watch it relinquish its' hold of the day and quietly, without fuss, the moon illuminates the patch-work sky of stars.

There is a loud zipping noise and suddenly the power line leading to Jinbe's aquarium is plus one extra cyborg. "Franky!"

It's not as loud as usual because he's tired and Sanji is comfortable.

"Hello my _super_ ~ friends." There are bags under his eyes but he smiles nonetheless, lighting up his entire face.

"How did you get from the house to here?" Nami asks curiously, eyeing the cyborg up.

"I just hang-glided here, Nami- _sis_." Franky said, shoving a thumb over his shoulder.

"That is so cool!" Chopper and Luffy cry.

"Hell _yeah,_ you guys will be able to do it too." He gestures back to the house, "Since y'all will be working at Jinbe's _super~_ aquarium, I'll be putting a fully functional zipline down here."

They all whooped in delight at the thought, even Nami smiled in the face of their pure unadulterated joy.

The blue-prints had been quickly approved by Nami beforehand.

The House of their Dreams – yes the capitals were necessary – was to be a total four stories in height and the foundations had been built over two of the uninhibited blocks.

There were to be nooks and crannies spread throughout the home, with secret trapdoors leading through the rooms, and a huge slide from the fourth down to the common room. Additionally, there were two hot-tubs to be strategically placed for both the men and women.

But, they weren't just hot-tubs, they were also functioning showers and an additional four toilets were placed through the floors.

The roof of the house was their garden, and Franky said he was going to plant a tree there (possibly with a swing). But, out the back, Nami's _mikan_ were to be planted within her own little grove. Sanji had also staked a claim in the backyard to grow his own fruit and vegetables, as had Chopper.

He had insisted that some of the herbs he needed to use on them could be planted in their back yard.

While there was one shared room with a mattress floor, carpet beneath, they all had their own personal space inclusive. However, there were more rooms then there were people, but they knew that they would be filled up eventually.

So, they had a mini library on the third floor, shelves empty thus far, Usopp had a little studio overlooking the sea for his drawings and paintings – and whatever he wanted really.

Nami had her own little cartography room that opened up onto a balcony – she had insisted.

Zoro had a training room that was primarily weights, his katana proudly displayed in a glass casing.

Chopper had his own little infirmary, he had delightedly told Franky that he would really, _really_ like state of the art instruments so state of the art instruments he would get.

Sanji had only requested that he had room for clothing and made some other suggestions for their kitchen/dining room.

Jinbe had contributed greatly to the 'sparring room', as they liked to call it. The first floor was built reinforced and with a softer floor so that they could fight.

Luffy had taken an obsession with it, and Zoro was happy to indulge, Jinbe and Sanji included.

And then it had devolved into something that _everyone_ was interested in so they _had_ to have it.

Franky himself had a workshop, technically, it was being built off-plans after the blue-prints had been submitted for approval. And seeing as he had to keep it a secret that he had weapons buried within him.

The subterranean basement was waterproof and Frank had built it on the foundations that he could make it air-tight if truly necessary.

Aside from that, an additional two personalised rooms had been planned.

Naturally, they could all figure out _who_ it was for, but they couldn't explicitly explain it.

One was quite old-fashioned in style, and Franky was making in-built displays for instruments.

The other contained a drawing desk, in-built shelves were also planned along the entirety of the room.

Franky had also assured and reassured them that the security was the most high-tech anybody would _ever_ receive in terms of homeland security, possibly even to a – dare he say it? – CIA level.

And there was also a guest room for any that dared to stay with them.

But, the best _est_ part about it – shut up Usopp, it's a word – was that all of his nakama were gonna be with him inside it.

Luffy was giddy in anticipation for the construction to be completed.

From the bronze handle to the sky-line of it, he was 110% prepared to live inside, it sounded so freaking awesome!

Sanji grunts, completely smashing his already limited thought process, "Time to make dinner."

Luffy sighs at the loss of human body but moves regardless for the man.

They eat in the cafeteria of Jinbe's aquarium, Luffy eating at a sedate pace, chewing the burgers thoughtfully. "You should call it the Thousand Sunny."

Everyone stops their eating and glances at him, the thought on their minds, but unable to speak it – not for fear of rejection, per say, but because it wasn't really their decision.

The 'it' in question is Jinbe's aquarium, naturally, but, they all know that he's also referring to the house of their dreams.

Jinbe 'hmms' thoughtfully before sighing, "It would be an honour to name it the Thousand Sunny."

The grin is enough to light up the entire room, outshining even the sun.

They do manage to get the house done before the days turn colder, sun barely piercing through the sky, but even if it does, the harsh wind snatches away its' warmth in an instant.

Luffy hums contently to himself, walking along the main street with Nami, Chopper and Usopp who want to begin filling up their library.

He tagged along because he felt like it, but mostly because he knew that they'd be going to the op-shops that line the streets, they're always interesting to search because there's always a ton of treasure hidden away.

He doesn't know why, but it almost reminds him of the old-fashioned dumps you hear old people talking about, with the heaps of trash piled up precariously and where people came to drop of their stuff off.

Do dumps burn? Maybe, he asked Nami once but she gave him an odd look and shook her head.

But he's certain that he's smelt trash burning before, an amalgamation of burning food, wood, metals and the acrid stench of _flesh,_ alright, that's where he stops himself and reminds himself that he probably hasn't seen a dump burn.

And even if there was a burning dump, Ace will save him from it.

The thought makes his chest feel all twisty like a knot.

The little bell jingles as they walk through the door, Chopper stopping at everything he sees, Usopp immediately heading for the DVDs and CDs, Nami the only one who stays on task by heading for the books section.

Luffy wanders aimlessly through the store, he usually dislikes the clothes but for some reason he feels himself drifting towards the men's coats and jackets section.

Sifting through stained jumpers and jackets missing both buttons, zippers and material before finally seeing what caught his attention,

it's a faded red tail-coat, tacky gold tassels fringing the shoulders, buttons a dull lustre. He slips it on, marvelling at the comfort of it, naturally, he doesn't generally like things that reach his ankles, aside from the casual jeans from time to time.

But this, it's beautiful.

Checking the price-tag he winces a bit but decides it would be worth it.

"Nami."

"Hmm?" She's looking through dresses now, a bag of books already pressed against her body.

"Nami." He asks again, sighing, she tears her gaze away from a cotton short dress to him, immediately her eyes zero onto the jacket draped over his shoulder.

"Price."

He wordlessly shows her, sighing, she ruffles a hand through her hair tiredly, they're lucky that they're so well off from both of her works, Zoro's prize money and Sanji's work as a chef.

And Franky has begun to contribute to their monthly costs of living, which is surprising, considering he basically passed the house off to them without making them pay when they all knew that it had easily cost $2 million.

Luffy doesn't think it should matter as much, it's gorgeous but in the manly way, and he doesn't usually request items of clothing so he thinks he should be allowed to solely on that premise.

Clearly, Nami agrees because she pulls it into arms and approaches the counter.

She doesn't swindle her way into a bargain like she usually does, only paying for the exact amount, including the $50 spent on pretty much the entirety of the shop's book collection, the money on the cute tea-set Chopper wanted for Sanji and the paints Usopp discovered.

"Sakura tea is much better than coffee!" Chopper argues, glaring at Usopp who just folds his arms.

"Taste wise, sometimes," he shakes his hand for emphasis, "in terms of quality, generally coffee because it keeps you awake."

"But too much caffeine can lead to health problems!"

"Not if you're careful in your drinking of it."

"Well, you're no-"

Their argument was pulled to a screeching halt by Nami swerving and cursing loudly as a truck comes screaming around the corner, and straight through their red light.

But, it manages to clip the tail-end and with grim determination, Nami slowly controls the car, "Get their number plate!" she hisses, Usopp already searching for it.

"Got it."

"Hit and run… the nerve." Nami hisses, getting out of her car and slamming it shut with more than the necessary force.

The rest of them pile out and Luffy can hear Chopper mildly informing them of shock, but there's a ringing in his ears and he can't shake it off.

Nami moves back towards him, but it looks like she's moving water and he cannot, for the life of him, discern a word she's saying.

And then brown fur _hair_ is in his face and Chopper carefully sets his down, yelling something at Nami who returns with his new cloak and then there's warmth around him and finally he _breathes,_ gulping down air greedily into his deprived lungs.

"Luffy, we're all okay." He's faintly aware of Chopper rubbing his arm and Usopp and Nami reminding him of what they did today but he can't stop thinking _what if_? _What if they all died_?

And then the more stubborn part of him reminds him that they _didn't,_ and that they're _still alive._

With a shaky, breathy laugh he stands up, well, attempts to stand up, he ends up sitting back down.

God, what is wrong with him? He's fine when going into potentially lethal situations but this, this is much more because they could _all be ripped away._

But they've never been ripped away, his fear is unneeded, but it happens anyway.

"I'm sorry." It's soft, but they catch it and they sit down next to him.

"Don't be sorry," Nami says softly, soothingly carding her nimble fingers through his hair.

"It's okay." Usopp murmurs leaning onto his shoulder.

Chopper crosses his legs and sits down, he's clearly contemplating something, judging by the heavy looks that are cast his way.

Eventually his shaking stops and it doesn't sound like he's listening through cotton candy.

He hates that he was _so weak_ for them, when it was only the tail end of their car clipped, and they're all fine.

 _They're all fine._

Nami sighs ruggedly, no doubt planning how to sue the truck driver ten-times over. Luffy reckons she would have been a great lawyer but her love of cartography and geography had won out.

And then one of _their_ cars come hooning around the corner, screeching in front of them.

Zoro, Sanji, Jinbe, and Franky pile out of the car, faces as pale as ghosts.

They each exhale in relief and shakily form a half circle around him, blocking out the pesky people asking; _"are you right dear?" "is an ambulance needed?"_

He wants them to go away, Zoro places a hand on his knee wordlessly, eyes conveying the words he does not speak and in spite of everything, he smiles,

and suddenly, the world is returned to its' usual speed, and he really, _really_ is grateful for that. Their group relaxes, heaving out their own sighs of relief and he's sad that they were so worried for him.

"I'm alright now." He murmurs, using Usopp and Nami as shelves as he gets up.

Wordlessly he takes the comfort of being within the mini-Merry, curled up in Zoro's lap, the red coat draped across him as an ill-fitting blanket.

Zoro is humming something old and rustling his fingers listlessly through his hair, he never knew why, but Zoro was always just _slightly_ better at reading him than any of their little 'crew'.

Nami was close but not quite there.

Pawing at the cloak, he twists so he's facing Zoro, still curled within the man like a content kitten.

He blinks up at the man who only smirks, still rubbing his fingers through his hair.

 _We're fine idiot, stop worrying._

He wonders if Zoro can read minds because how cool would that be? Although, now that he thinks about it could be really sad too…

As if sensing his thoughts once more, his head is firmly bopped by the swordsman who, despite the stern look on his face, his eyes radiate mirth, Luffy giggles.

When they arrive back at the Thousand Sunny, Jinbe firmly escorts him into their shared bedroom, a tank above them filled to the brim with exotic coloured fish and the little lights strung around the room create a warm feeling.

They're all inside the room with him aside from Sanji who returns five minutes later with hot chocolates – the good kind, made with cinnamon, the right amount of cocoa, sugar, milk and a dash of cream with little marshmallows bobbing underneath whipped cream.

After the hot chocolate has been consumed they all just lay there, looking at the fish peering down at them curiously.

It's perfect, better than perfect.

Because he's surrounded by his nakama – even Franky who must've left construction in the hands of his workers.

 _oh btw, that description of winter? totally accurate. in good ole Australia you don't really get out of Summer until it's actually a month into winter. Like, Autumn? doesn't exist. Spring is the only semi-normal season._

 _Oh, and for definitions:_  
 _A roady is someone who travels with a band who is specialised in a certain field and they can either unload the musicians crap and set it up and a lot of other cool stuff. if you were as old as Lilian and Gregory are, you'd probably be rich from being a roady most of your life, and another explanation is y'know, their child and his waifu drop some money off._


	7. Chapter 7

_Firstly, i'd like to say that no, im not a communist but i have some pretty strong views about the world we live in._  
 _i kind of projected onto Sabo? sorry, but i think it'd be in character for him to be like that._

 _Oh! And by the way, im not sure about any other countries, but, no, you do not have the automatic right to a lawyer except in the case of a criminal hearing wherein it would be 'unjust' to not have one._  
 _if you're reading from America, bear that in mind, esp. since this country is basically Australia_

 _sorry for the wait, btw, i didn't really take a good look at it for spelling errors and such, so im sorry if it doesnt make sense in some cases_

* * *

The following morning when the sun has well risen in the sky and Luffy finally gets out of bed, Nami broaches the thin barrier built up despite his grins and enthusiasm for food as always.

"I'm going to a firm today." It's a solicitor's office, but the point is, she's going and she's going to ensure that she'll be able to sue the _fuck_ out of the idiots that dared to harm Luffy, and their car.

But, she'll be pressing for the insurance on her car and hopefully she can also press for criminal charges.

As predicted, Luffy's eyes snap to hers and widens minutely but then shrugs, chugging his orange juice and scoffing down the scrambled eggs.

"I'll come with." Zoro says, and Nami thinks that yes, it probably would be nice for the extra protection.

Humming in agreement she goes through to the women's bathroom and ensures that her grey pencil skirt and the crisp white blouse are both uncreased, tightening her orange hair into its' bun.

Zoro is prepared as well, most likely dragged into a suit by either Usopp, or maybe even Sanji-kun who would have no qualms about forcing the 'shitty marimo' into more suitable clothing for such an occasion.

"We ready?" She demands more so than questions, at his nod she waves and throws a quick _'ciao'_ over her shoulder and climbing into Sanji-kun's _beautiful_ Porsche.

He had folded the keys into her hands and made her _promise_ she would not damage it.

"I found a firm that doesn't charge for a meeting with solicitors and booked it, if it does charge…" she smiles wickedly.

Zoro just grunts an affirmative and watches the larger apartment complexes and mansion-esque homing melt into brightly lit shops, from café/book shops, to burgeria's and bohemian clothes stores.

Strung across lamps, glittering lights dangle in the midsummer breeze.

Pulling into a little carpark that _firmly_ stated that the allocated parking were for people wishing to visit the legal firm.

It was modern looking, bricks left bare, metal arch surrounding the sleek glass, automatic doors that slid open with barely a breath of noise.

They both strolled up to the counter where a crisp looking young woman was sitting, typing something into the computer.

They didn't say anything, waiting for her to realise that she was not alone in her work.

"Oh! Sorry, I hope you haven't been standing there too long." The poor woman stands up abruptly, upsetting a pile of papers, weighted by a ceramic dice.

"No problem." Nami says patiently, exuding the perfect air of confidence.

The woman straightens up and looks back to her monitor and consulting with a little notepad hidden away in her breast pocket.

"I need your name and identification." She says, tapping the counter with a manicured finger lightly to signify, _where_ she wanted it.

Nami pushes her drivers license over the counter and nudges Zoro so he follows suit.

"Fantastic! You can go and wait in this room." She points at a modernised, sleek, predominantly white room next to her office.

They both drop into chairs side by side and idly gaze around the room, it's simplistic, only a few pot-plants breaking up the creamy whites and greys of the room.

People are idly flicking through pages on their phones, plugged into the social nexus provided at the tips of their fingers.

There's a television playing one of the news channels but neither care, most of the news they need is in their daily newspaper.

Nami glances at the magazines, with their glossy finishes and decides that no, she does not want to read about the latest scandal regarding some celebrity.

Zoro was lightly snoring despite only _just_ leaning back in his chair.

But even as he does a blonde haired man walks outside of one of the offices, "You must be Nami and…?"

"Zoro." He said gruffly.

"If you would be so kind as to step this way." They are led into another office, this one with bookshelves full of notes and a large semi-circle taking up a large portion of the room, he gestures to two comfortable chairs which they slide into without complaint.

There's something familiar about the man with his black and blue suit and little cravat sitting snugly around his neck.

"You came here to seek advice on whether or not to sue this person?" He asks, pointing at the numberplate scrawled onto the paper in front of him.

"Mhm, he sped through a red light and if anybody else was steering, I doubt we would've made it out with only shock as an injury." Nami said, voice low but commanding.

He nods, "Hmm, well, it's difficult, I wouldn't recommend suing them, rather, press charges for reckless driving. There's also the option for negotiation if you would prefer to bring them in here to talk about the event."

"How much is negotiation here?" She asks.

"Free, we aim to serve the public and help those who cannot help themselves."

Nodding, a thought suddenly came to her, "Sorry, I don't believe I ever caught your name."

"Oh! I'm so sorry, my name is-"

For some explicable reason, they both hold their breath, they feel like they know the man.

"-Frederick. Frederick Outlook."

They both unconsciously relaxed, no, he didn't have the right name, but perhaps, he had the right face.

After all, where the mind forgets, the body remembers.

Zoro blinked, remembering when he first met Luffy, he _knew_ that the boy had a different name, same way that Ace did.

"Alright, _Frederick,_ " Nami enunciated his name, "What do you believe would be our best course of action?"

"I think that if you don't want compensation, press charges for the police to prosecute, if you do want compensation, then I would recommend negotiation, it's cheaper than suing but perhaps not as effective depending on what kind of a branch you use." Frederick says, brushing blonde hair out of his face.

Standing abruptly Nami extends her hand to him, "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Frederick, would you consider attending dinner?"

Zoro side-eyes her silently, he knows that she feels the same pull that he does, like they known him even though they haven't met him in their life.

Frederick seems rather taken aback but hides it with an easy grin, "I wouldn't want to impose…"

"Nonsense, you've helped us out a lot." Nami says, laying it on thick.

Frederick rubs the back of his head sheepishly, "Okay, if you insist."

"Great!" She scrawls their address on a scrap piece of paper from her purse and presses it onto the table. "We'll be expecting you at 7!"

Job complete and with a little guidance on what to do – Nami had also taken Legal Studies when she was in high school as a senior subject so she had a bit of knowledge prior to the meeting – the duo left.

"You know him don't you Zoro?" Nami asks, fingering the little photo Sanji has on his key-chain of all of them squished into one of Jinbe's few lounges.

Zoro nods silently, he knew, "Connected to Luffy of course."

Sliding into the passenger seat he leans back in the chair as Nami revs the engine.

There is no need for a further consideration, they know him, they know that he's connected to Luffy, especially, so of course they needed to invite him over.

Besides, Sanji's cooking is to kill and die for.

Not that he'd ever really tell the cook that.

"We're going to be extra somebody tonight," is the first thing Nami says when she walks in the door, forestalling any questions they may have and obediently drops the keys into Sanji-kun's outstretched hand.

"How did it go?" Jinbe asks gruffly, he's only just closing for the night now, at 5:00 he always shuts the place down but now he looks to Nami for further instruction.

"I'm think I'm going to negotiate a deal with them." She says, looking truly like the devil at the moment with her demonic eyes at the thought of her kind of a 'deal' with them.

Laughing lightly Luffy peers at her from underneath his hoodie, he's curled up against Usopp who's reading The Hobbit to a captive audience.

"I'm going to start preparing then," Sanji says, pulling himself out of the large armchair.

"Sanji, can I have something to eat now?" Luffy asks, and, looking as adorable as he is now, how could anybody say no to him?

As it is, Sanji smiles lightly and brings out plates of salmon sandwiches and creamy croquembouche (that makes a few of them shudder for some inexplicable reason).

Zoro grunts as he basically collapses to the floor against Usopp's chair, "Oi, you should invite your brother too."

Luffy tilts his head but at the look in Zoro's eyes he grins brightly and nods. "Sure!"

* * *

Frederick lived in a world that was wreaked with despair.

People lived in poverty, governments were corrupt, the world was slowly dying and white supremacists still existed.

And there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it either.

He grew up with a caring family, two parents that simply adored him.

But sometimes their stance on certain geo-political complexities annoyed him to no end because what about the people within that region?

Where were they to go?

It was written within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that people were born with a right to life, why was the world so wrecked with evil and injustices?

Going through High School was _fun,_ particularly one year where all they talked about was social justice.

At least four subjects had covered the matter, but the better question was,

What was justice?

Even after studying legal studies intensely, Frederick didn't fully understand the concept.

It was essentially a code of conduct that wrote the way to 'punish' those who were in the wrong.

Justice was blind, it was inanimate, it struck down those who dared spit into the face of the establishment of which held its' ethics and code of morals so tightly to its' chest that the lines between justice and injustice became greatly concealed.

But, he thought that the end-game of life should be freedom.

If you're free then you can do whatever you want.

It was with that belief that he finished his University courses, perhaps not with an outstanding result, but enough that he was able to open his own firm to provide free support to those who sought it.

His parents had sponsored him to do it as well.

At first, but by that stage he had better friends in higher places that wanted to help him.

And he knew that if he continued like this that he would eventually strike gold and allow his voice to be heard.

After all, in this country, you did _not_ have the right to a lawyer, only legal advice.

The only time you _did_ get a lawyer was if you were accused of breaching criminal law so that the trial would be 'just'.

But this acute sense of the injustices within the world wasn't what made him so weird, either.

Which was the weirdest part about it really.

Sometimes he would be working in a shitty fast-food joint, scrubbing the floors, and feel _intense fear like he was going to be punished for doing something wrong._ And he didn't know why!

And in that moment, he had never wanted the modern-day slavery of the world to cease in its' tracks.

Particularly one hot and sweaty day during a history class whilst they watched a TED talk on it, he felt his fists curl into balls at the thought of _so many people,_ so many _children, families,_ working their lives away for a debt that should not exist.

Other times he would be swimming and suddenly the waves would pull him under, but, oddly enough, it felt soothing, not distressing.

And in those moments he was certain that he was going to be ridiculed for swimming at a beach among _humans._

But he also felt the intense need to _talk to somebody._

Who it was, he could not tell.

Or he would be at a protest in the street and feel the urge to _command them all,_ make them into revolutionaries and overthrow the g-

He always stops himself there, because those are _very dangerous_ thoughts.

And besides, this government isn't even that bad, or, it could be behind closed doors but perhaps, they can retain equality within this country.

Sometimes on the _really weird days_ he'll start yelling "Heehaw!" and feel urges to stab people with his pincer, especially the ones who are _clearly_ uncomfortable in their bodies.

But the oddest part is that he's compelled to don a suit that would _not_ leave much to the imagination.

Or he'd be sitting in class and suddenly be able to recite anything you asked him about history, and with it came an odd sense of macabre and the thought that he could probably kill the president and get away with it.

But he usually strays from the path despite the gun license tucked in his pocket and the collapsible pipe hidden within his trousers.

Elsewise he'd feel a fiery rage within him and have to curb his pyromania before it really became a problem.

But, he'd be even better at his boxing classes when he harnesses the _rage_ and need but _desire_ to protect. What he's protecting, he's unsure.

But his classmates always tell him that he has this _dark_ look in his eyes – the ones that aren't terrified to approach.

Or he'll become incredibly happy and smile constantly, but he feels incredibly lonely in those moments, like there's someone or something missing from him.

These things had at first worried his parents who took him to his GP, they basically said that no, he's probably not schizophrenic but if it becomes apparent that he's a _different_ person, then bring him back.

But apparently he was mildly bipolar and subject to manic episodes.

So, he took enough medication to stave off both of them.

Glancing again at the worldometers one last time before he began work, he sighed heavily at the amount of people _estimated_ to have died from hunger alone today.

It wasn't enough, his voice wasn't _heard_.

He wanted so badly to breach state sovereignty and set the injustices right, to feed the poor, to drain the rich of their money until they were _equal._

Although, those are dangerous thoughts for such a _capitalist_ country.

He's not a communist, he just wants freedom for _everybody._

He'd be fine if they were doing that underneath the rule of somebody else, just as long as they achieved true freedom.

"Good morning Mr. Outlook." Suzie said, looking tired behind the brim of her pumpkin chai latte.

"It is quite a good morning, isn't it?" He said, and despite the inner turmoil of his thoughts, the sky was beautiful, birds were singing in the trees within their parking lot.

"We have fifteen appointments to get through today at a minimum, two of which are negotiation, the rest, soliciting." She said, scrolling through her phone.

 _Seems easy,_ he thought as he pulled his gloves tightly onto his hands, it was a habitual thing to do so, not that he was a germaphobe or anything.

Sliding into his office he did a cursory glance over the files.

It was customary that they find out about who their clients were to try and help them the best they could.

Pausing on one of his final appointments he stared at the photo of _Nami,_ no last name but she looked…

He couldn't place his finger on it, but perhaps the word he was looking for was déjà vu?

In another life maybe he met her?

As the first clients strolled into the building he put aside the mystery of this Nami character and dealt with a simple case of neighbour fuelled disputes.

Finally, after he'd taken his lunch break at the local 'Sushi Train' (for people who were extra, he reminded himself, chewing through the sea-weed roll).

Damn he wished it was later on, at that time, people always reduced their sushi bentos.

Meeting Nami and Roronoa Zoro just threw a wrench in his plans to live a relatively normal life, didn't it?

Agreeing to attend to a dinner with them he frowned at the address in his hand, unsure if there was a mistake in it, for the place it spoke of was the old decrepit aquarium standing on the edge of a cliff.

Even after the previous floods, it was still standing.

But Frederick was sure that she'd given him the right address, maybe she seemed like the kind of person to con him out of something, but the man beside her had sat forward in anticipation at the uttering of his name.

And for one of the many times in his life, the name that had slipped out of his lips had felt _wrong,_ like it didn't belong to him.

Pulling up in the carpark of the old aquarium he eyes a golden Porsche and old white van taking up space within the carpark.

It's already dark because it's winter and the nights are longer, days shorter than any other time.

Sabo approaches the glass panes of the sliding doors and without a word they cave inwards, there, at the door is a man with an incredibly long nose and a younger teen with doe-like eyes.

"Hello Mr Outlook, I'm Usopp and this is Chopper, I'd like to apologise on behalf of Nami that she didn't warn you that _yes_ we're living in the aquarium until the place next door gets fixed." The man with the phallic nose explains, taking his coat as he shrugs out of it and Chopper tugs on his arm.

Chopper guides him silently through many bends and turns until they finally stumble on what looks to be a temporary living space – and it is.

But what really catches his eye are the two men wriggling around on one of the mattresses, they both have untamed black hair and dark eyes but they're not blood-related.

 _Sabo_ knows that.

His legs begin to mechanically pull himself towards the duo who have yet to end their game and without another word he punches the older one on the head and immediately hugs both.

It doesn't matter that they don't know each other, because _they know_ each other.

And, as if no time has passed between the three _Ace_ mutters, "Took you long enough," and Luffy just sniffles a little into his arm.

Sabo ignores the hitch of Ace's voice and just hugs the pair tighter.

He punches Ace's head again, "That's for dying you moron!"

They won't remember the conversation but it's better to get it over and done with.

"Don't be a hypocrite you were dead too."

Luffy mewls, sounding so _sad,_ and they've never been able to deny him anything, have they?

His eyes are swimming with unshed tears, but they're tears of joy because _finally_ the three of them are reunited.

"Ah!" Luffy's eyes suddenly light up and he leaves the room in a flash but he's back within a minute, this time with three sakazuki cups within his grasp and a sake bottle under his arm.

Wordlessly, he passes the sake bottle over to Ace who presents it proudly, "Hey, did you know that if you exchange sake, you become brothers?"

"Shishi!"

They lift their cups, "To brotherhood!"

And as simple as that, their bond is renewed for them and nothing, not even the passing of time can untether them from each other.


	8. Chapter 8

lowkey think i've broken my pelvis, i know it's extremely rare unless you have a bone weakening disease. But i feel like i've broken it :/ i can't get to my GP until tomorrow though... which is going to be awkward... so here you go!

* * *

The following morning dawned upon the group like an ill-mannered child.

For all of the Straw Hats were pretty much black-out drunk.

Well, some of them were and others ensnared within the clutches of those who had deemed them fit to become their new pillows for the night.

Waking up with somebody's foot in your mouth was not a pleasant experience, Sabo reflected, spitting out his _brother's_ foot.

See, while it was absolutely disgusting to wake up with a filthy, unclean foot in your mouth, he could still call Ace his _brother._

Luffy gnawed on his elbow a little, snot bubble expanding and receding with his breath.

It was a beautiful morning, and despite the pounding headache he felt truly at peace surrounded by all of these crazy people.

Although, he was still missing a lot of people.

He could tell that Luffy and Ace were as well.

But, they'll definitely find them one day.

"Oi, you right there?" The cook asked, smoking a cigarette, _this_ early in the morning.

Jinbe was also accompanied by him.

The man reminded him of somebody else he knew but, for the life of him, it eluded his very grasp.

Grinning he managed to pull a thumb out and show them that he was a-okay.

Sanji snorted around his cigarette and smirked, "We're making breakfast soon anyway so they'll probably get up as soon as they smell it."

Sabo smiled and shifted a little, wrapping his arms around his younger brother and watched in amusement as he wrapped himself around Ace at an impossible angle like he was from the exorcist.

He was lucky that the preceding day had been a Saturday and as such, he did not have to work today, he was completely free today.

Given by the headache, it was probably for the best.

Besides, his current position was much desired and he would much prefer that he stayed like this.

But, as soon as the scent of bacon began to drift through the temporary bed, both Ace and Luffy began to stir, "Nnn?"

Ace sleepily muttered, clinging to his little brother and managing to wrap his own arms around Sabo as well, squeezing tightly.

The small teenager and the one with the long nose were beginning to stir, they were quite adorable clinging to each other on the lounge.

Grunting a little, he twisted to see the green-haired man snoring and leaning up against the wall in what looked like an extremely uncomfortable position but he made it look quite natural.

The orange-haired lady was near him, however she was reading a book and most definitely awake. "Good morning Sabo-kun."

He waved awkwardly within his pile.

She smirks and flicks another page of the book.

"Food!" Sanji suddenly hollers and immediately the pair of bodies ensnaring Sabo are up and blindly running towards the scent of bacon and scrambled eggs.

He follows at a much more sedate pace, rubbing his temples tiredly.

"Here," Roronoa says, dropping a few pills in his hand and thrusts a glass of water at him.

"Thanks." He says politely, downing both of the pills.

"Is Sabo hungover?" Luffy asks curiously, salivating over his extra-large serving of food.

Ace grins toothily around a piece of toast and claps loudly in the blonde's face. "Gah!"

He flinches back from the loud noise, cursing his brother with every ounce of his being.

"Yup."

Sabo groans and holds his face, "How are _you_ not hungover? How are _any_ of you not hungover?" He asks incredulously, staring at all of them.

Pretty much all of them – sans Chopper or Luffy – had drunk their fill and were most definitely at the 'drunk' stage.

They shrug and give him shit-eating grins, "We don't _get_ hangovers."

He sighs and tucks into his own breakfast, Jinbe is looking impatiently at his watch every couple of minutes or so and he gets it.

"Oh, you need to open don't you?" Nami says offhandedly, sipping a cup of what he presumes is juice.

"Bimbe shneeds sho shopen?" Luffy asks, flecks of scrambled eggs falling out of his mouth.

"That's disgusting," Sabo says plainly, only to be met with a blinding grin, revealing more of his brother's mouth than Sabo ever wanted to see.

"I'm afraid I do." Jinbe says.

"Well, we can move up to the top, if that's okay with you?" Usopp says.

"I would welcome it, I believe that most of the staff are already here." Jinbe checks his watch again and bids them farewell.

Sabo watches him go with a thought that maybe, he _did_ know Jinbe, perhaps in another life, another time.

Well, whatever, he had a free day today and he had a good idea of what he was going to do with it.

"Well, I'm off to work." Franky says, finishing his meal and Sabo thinks that if he looks very closely, he can see metal embedded into the man's skin.

But that would be ridiculous.

"So am I." Sanji says, elbow deep in washing up.

Luffy finishes his meal and immediately turns to Ace who says, "So, where do you wanna go to-"

He falls face first in his unfinished meal and Sabo winces at the loud thunk.

Chopper immediately goes to him and thanks the fact that he landed on some, _relatively_ soft food to cushion his fall.

"Narcolepsy?"

"Narcolepsy." Chopper confirms, "Did he take his pills last night?"

"Dunno." Luffy says, one finger digging away in his cavity.

Chopper sighs heavily, "He has to take them if he wants to avoid stuff like this."

Sabo grins and withdraws a permanent marker from within his clothes, "Tattoos?"

The grin he receives in return is blinding and he smiles in return.

Scrawling a few certain _body_ parts on his face Ace suddenly sits up, "-day?"

It takes him all of 5 seconds to understand the situation and within 1 he has Luffy in a headlock, scrubbing his head, "Stupid brothers!"

Sabo shrieks and runs away, "No Sabo, don't leave me!" Luffy cries, trying to get out of the headlock.

"Sorry Lu! You're on your own!" He shouts, laughing hysterically.

"Noooo!" He shouts giggling and finally manages to flip Ace over onto the floor. "Victory!"

The group are fondly watching the moment, all smiling at the open display of affection.

Sabo decides later that day – he thought about it in the morning as well, but hey, he's a hell of a lot more lucid now – that despite the fact that he's missing so _many_ people, he doesn't think that there's anywhere he'd prefer to be.

Luffy lies languidly atop Nami's lap in the waiting room of Sabo's work, they managed to order a negotiation with the a-hole that crushed the tail-end of Nami's car.

She's still pissed off about it, Luffy can tell because her perfectly manicured fingers and carved into claws and are gripping her book tightly, it's a book on the classification of law and how to present your case.

She's going to win, Luffy knows it, whether she uses force remains to be seen.

He's clad in his thick cloak because today, it's officially Autumn, and it's _kind_ of colder than summer. Which he supposes is improvement because the days where it's 35⁰+ are sometimes _boring._

Zoro is beside them, arms crossed firmly, he's on high alert, not that he looks it, especially because he's 'asleep'.

Luffy knows he's not _actually_ asleep, he's had plenty of practise in determining when Zoro is _actually_ asleep.

It's actually a wonder that neither have tried to vacate him from his spot.

With Usopp's help, Nami managed to hunt down the guy in the truck.

He had been very nervous when she'd called him, agreeing hastily to a negotiation session.

The guy that walks in _has to_ be the guy, he's about 6'3", clad in flannel, jeans and steel-cap boots and a beanie covering straw thin, brown hair.

He's extremely nervous too.

"Nami." He whispers quietly but she's clearly already seen him.

"Luffy." He wordlessly rolls of her and slips into the seat beside Zoro.

"Mr Atkinson?" She asks, as viciously as a shark.

"That's me." He says, swallowing, Nami can be intimidating when she wants to be.

Zoro isn't snoozing anymore, both eyes trained on the man in case he makes a move.

"Excuse me?" The brown-haired woman interrupts, walking out of her office, "Are you Mr Atkinson and Ms Nami?"

"Yes, that's us." She smiles, as sweet as saccharine and turns heel, following the woman into her office.

Zoro and Luffy wordlessly wait for her.

"What do you reckon is going to happen?" He asks, fidgeting with his hem.

"She's going to drain him of any money he might have." Zoro says, relaxing slightly.

Half an hour Nami and Mr Atkinson emerge from the office, the large burly man is clearly shaken, hands trembling, face as pale as a sheet of paper.

He approaches the duo and Luffy feels Zoro tense up further, muscles as taut as a wire.

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry…" He murmurs, subdued.

Luffy just stares before grinning a little, "No problem, nobody died and Nami bled you dry."

The guy just nods and trudges out of the place.

When they arrive at Jinbe's aquarium, nobody is inside, except for a little note that says to go next door.

"Next door…?" He jumps in excitement at the realisation that _hell yes._ "Let's go!"

He pulls both Zoro and Nami along into the front yard of what is now called the _Thousand Sunny._

She was red and yellow, magnificent in every way possible.

The front yard leading up to her steps was filled with flowers and some herbs, Luffy spied some tree seedlings as well.

It was massive though, spanning higher than Luffy thought possible, there were a few balconies reaching towards the road but he knew that the back had more.

The door was adorned with a large brass knocker of what looked to be a lion, "Brave until the end…"

Grinning widely he used the knocker, immediately he watched as a little camera zeroed in on his face and then Sunny's door opened revealing the second floor, it would probably be disturbing if somebody opened the door and found them sparring.

Within it, Chopper and Usopp were happily prancing around the common room, which was both a dining room, and partially a kitchen with an entire freaking _aquarium_ embedded into the wall!

The following room was the loungeroom with a freaking whole wall dedicated to the inbuilt TV – including a speaker system that would probably rival those of concerts.

He looked at the stair case and promptly leapt up them, the second floor included one of the hot-tubs, with a 'men' sign on it.

Honestly, words just _could not_ describe the absolute _awe_ he was struck by, this _house._

It was… it was everything he had ever dreamt.

From the garden on the very roof, to the fight room that he had immediately christened by challenging Sanji to a fight.

To the slide that took them down to the fight room, and while he may not read books too often, he was pumped to find his nakama that _did._

His personal room was comparatively small but that was fine because the only things he was storing in it was his clothing and some knick-knacks he picked up around the place.

Their room where they were to sleep was pretty frickin sweet too, the ground felt like it was made of fluffy mattress material! It overlooked the ocean and the lights could be dimmed or turned up full blast, they had immediately pinned up a bunch of photos and posters within the room and staked their own part of the mattress.

He slips down the slide, laughing the entire way as he slips into the common room where Sanji is serving fruity drinks for them all.

"So I see you like it, Luffy." Franky says, grinning at the awe in his eyes.

"It is, _so cool_!" He declares, launching himself at the cyborg, he may have read over the plans but, it was so much better in person, "Thank you so so so much!"

"It's no problem bro!" Franky says, hugging him back.

The first night they spend playing hide and seek throughout the house because _godamn_ there were so many hidey-holes hidden within it, and it was sound-proof! Well, mostly, but hey, at least they wouldn't receive complaints.

Months pass without anything major occurring and by the time Spring rolls around Zoro suddenly thrusts an envelope into Nami's hands.

"Take it."

She looks at him and then the letter in wonder and then unseals it, seeing the contents of it, she squeals in delight and hugs them all in turn because there is _no way_ that Zoro managed to accumulate the money by himself.

The contents are a plane ticket to Jakarta and a hell of a plan they all put together for Nami to use.

"Now you can properly cartograph Indonesia, Nami!" Chopper says, equally exited for her.

"Thank you all so much!"

"There's a lady living in Indonesia right now that is going to be your guide." Zoro says, an easy grin upon his features.

So Nami leaves for Indonesia, long sleeves and long dresses packed because she's going to stick out like a sore thumb in the country side, with her bust, her orange hair and her pale skin.

They all miss her a ton but they don't regret it, she's already sacrificed _so much_ for them so it's really the least they can do.

She texts them every day, telling them all about the wonders of the little islands and the rice farms, and the water in the country-side comes from the local mountain!

She tells them a lot about the woman who is a historian, a scholar but an archaeologist, going by the name Iridian Nico.

The name is familiar and when Nami catches her return flight they all greet her at the international airport.

In tow is a tanned lady with ebony hair reaching down to her shoulders, just reaching her purple cotton dress.

"Everyone!" She shouts in pure ecstasy and runs for them, they meet her halfway, ending up as a big puddle on the floor of the airport.

"Fufufu." The lady laughs sweetly at them all and Luffy gets another closer look and freezes because _she is nakama._

"Nami?"

"Hmm, she definitely is." Nami replies, squishing them all tightly.

"Ne, what's your name?" He asks, straightening up and grinning easily to her.

"Nico Robin, and I presume that you are Monkey D. Luffy?" She asks, holding out her hand for a shake.

"Yup, that's me, are you coming to live with us?" He asks bluntly, she freezes and then nods hesitantly as if he was about to retract his statement.

"If you would have me." She says delicately and that's that.

Robin immediately claims a good third of the library, slipping into their life with her morbid humour and her immense knowledge of the past as if he had never _not_ been there.

They're sitting around Sunny's dining table in the morning, Robin reading the newspaper.

"I see that there is a museum curator position open." She muses, circling the job with black pen. "It might be awful pay, but I suppose money is money."

"Why don't you become a lecturer of the University?" Usopp asks.

"That would be a good idea," She admits, "and my digs would be fully funded as well…"

Sabo likes her too, Luffy can tell in the way he grins easier around her and helps her out when she asks for it.

Ace isn't as close but that's fine, he didn't expect Ace to be best friends with Robin.

Sometimes Robin needs more love, when they're curled up before the fire in the common room and she reads about tales of the past to them until she and everybody else is asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

This is really short cos i wanted to wrap up Robin.  
That being said; _**I MEAN NO OFFENCE BY THE SHIT I'VE WRITTEN DOWN IN THIS CHAPTER. DON'T BE TRIGGERED, PLS. IM REALLY BLUNT WITH MY POINTS OF VIEW AND THEY PROBABLY CONFLICT WITH YOURS SO JUST A FAIR WARNING**_

* * *

Iridian Nico grew up primarily on the run, she challenged corrupt governments by writing books and tried to learn about history so that she could become an archaeologist, or a scholar.

She loved the idea of growing up and becoming proficient in one of those areas, learning about the past was just such a romantic idea to her.

She grew up in the cold land of Moscow with her father who avidly described the way that the land had come to be, he spoke of the way the world had exploded into existence, filled with quarks and almost immediately paired with each other, thus pairing with others, forming the first, most basic elements.

He spoke of the way the earth revolved the sun in an elliptical way, and how the earth came to be through 'photosynthesis' and volcanic movement.

He talked about the evolutionary chain and its' impact on the modern-day world.

The earliest society's, people and animals.

And really, it didn't take a whole lot of time, she absorbed the knowledge and eventually built up her initial understanding.

It was very cold in her home-land and sometimes, Iridian felt like she should be living on the sea, in warm climates with _nakama._

She knew at least 12 different languages by the time she was 14-years-old and well on her way to learning Hebrew.

Iridian had always been fluent in Russian and Latin because honestly, the words just came naturally to her. And after learning Latin she learnt the vulgarised languages of romance; French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Occitan and Sardinian.

She also knew Japanese without any lessons like she really should. And from Japanese came Chinese and Mandarin.

When her father registered her in school, she aced it and the teachers didn't like the fact that she was probably smarter than they were and ensured that she stayed in the dumbed down years.

It wasn't until she presented a thesis statement to the local library that people really started to take her seriously.

Her father sometimes leaves her by herself to go complete important missions for their government.

" _I'm proud of you._ " Her father says, ruffling her hair under her thick woollen hood.

Her father dies during one of the spy missions, the larger, corrupt government striking him down for completing his job.

She leaves her mother country in the late 90's, after the Cold War has ended and the U.S.S.R has collapsed in from itself, she writes her own book, because the preservation and conservation of history is _required._

She is by herself and now about 15, probably not old enough to get very far in life, but there are states where the colour of her skin may be extremely obvious.

They are countries where the larger country will not meddle in its' business.

So, the first country she travels to is Japan with its' cherry blossoms and modernised buildings, they're still suffering from the effects of the end of World War II.

Eventually she decides that she has spent enough time in the country and chooses the next location by throwing a dart at the map of the world.

So, she smuggles herself into Indonesia and lives in Jakarta, the capital, for a while, she gets by, sliding through crowds of naïve tourists with no understanding of how harsh the world is and pick-pocketing them.

Eventually she moves to another island about 6 hours away from the capital on foot, it probably would have been quicker if she had caught an aeroplane but she had no official documents, no driver's licence, birth certificate, _nothing._

She sets up a library there and begins to write her books, books about theories she has thought about, long and hard.

Others are from her time as a small child, living with her father, a spy for the USSR, killed at the hands of the USA.

She despised the USA for a while, from a historian's point of view, they didn't really _need_ to nuke the Japanese, not twice at least.

Or the fact that all of the natives were dead because the country needed to 'manifest its' destiny'.

But the same can be said for plenty of other countries, Australia and its' treatment of Aboriginals.

And it all stems to the other country, Britain.

But she supposes that they're trying to make up for it (if they stopped electing such bigoted politicians).

Other countries are beginning to revert to their traditional days where women were absolute property only, if you didn't practise a certain religion; you were persecuted.

Facing the facts, all of the countries in the world have absolutely tried their best to destroy each other at some stage, and for what?

For the knowledge that they were number one?

Only about 2% of the asylum seeker population were relocated _legally_ to a country with the benefits of being free.

Australia, despite the vast amount of _land,_ and _resources,_ they own, simply allow 3000 asylum seekers in per year on a Humanitarian visa, those that are not processed are left in inhumane detention centres.

She knows that the centres violate the treaties that the country has internationally sworn to uphold.

And Britain, the absolute destruction of other, _untouched_ colonies were burdened by its' problems.

Too many people enslaved, too many countries under its' thumb.

Japan wielding katanas and other weaponry making a bloodbath of China.

Her own country killing _so many people,_ not just in the wars but inland as well, the ripping apart of soldiers by wolves – the snow had stained blood that winter.

Communism was not that bad of an idea in theory, but when it was handed to _humans,_ who only wanted the best for themselves… it derailed.

But she says nothing, for it is not her place and there is nothing she can do about the world anyway.

And when she's 25, they offer her a position within their school.

She's awful at it, too much knowledge to compress it for the unbridled potential, empty minds of children.

Her little house is full of expendable items, ready to leave at the drop of a hat.

Iridian's skin is tanner now and she is given less odd looks.

She builds farms of rice and animals and begins to profit heavily, despite the vast amount of resources at her fingertips, she still remains stubbornly alone.

So, when she receives an email on her laptop – she had splurged – offering to pay her handsomely for the touring of the _entire_ country of Indonesia for a worker of an Australian University, she is surprised.

So surprised that she decides, why not? And agrees to it.

When 'Nami' arrives in the airport of the main capital, she knows that she made the right decision.

And when Nami offers to take her back home, with her. She decides, sure. Her entire life has been based off spontaneous decisions so what is one more to that pile?

And it turns out to be the best decision of her life because _Robin knows_ Luffy.

She also knows that if anyone tries to harm her _nakama,_ she would snap their necks without a second thought.

It's just something that you wouldn't understand.

* * *

I'm just angry with the world and how bullshit everything is, like come on, it probably doesn't help that i'm doing social justice in four subjects either..

my country is fucked up, your country is probably(maybe) also fucked up. we're all fucked up - hey amity references. let's just admit that the world is fucked up. Australia... we're really fucked, like, we recently had our first serial killer after world war 1. Over a quarter of the prison population is Indigenous but they only account for 3% of the overall population. And not even considering that we came here and stole the entirety of their land. If any of you guys are Aboriginal, I apologise, I'm sorry for taking your land, your resources, even your children, I'm sorry that we resorted to killing you all. I'm sorry, and that's inadequate as fuck but I want to say sorry.

I just really wish that we as human beings weren't like this, but here we are.

I wrote this because i feel like Robin would feel something similar, perhaps not as strongly so i confess that i projected onto her. If anyone's interested, i'm kind of writing a book about the bullshit of the world. She would be Russian according to Oda so that's why she grew up in Moscow. Oh, and just a heads up, i should be squeezing out another chapter really soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry for that last chapter, i was just super pissed off when i really thought about the world, if you didn't enjoy my points of view *shrugs* sorry i guess.

Anyway! a few of you guys have requested an Ace or Sabo chapter so here you go! i dont know how grammatically correct it is, i wrote it when im supposed to be studying for a legal exam tomorrow...

* * *

Ace is by himself at the moment, when Sabo realised just who he was, he decided that he was going to move in with the black-haired man regardless of what he wanted.

So, usually the pair of them are working and when they aren't they go pester their little brother.

But the both are slightly envious of Luffy's new house, it is simply _amazing,_ to stand outside it and gaze in awe at the monstrosity.

Luffy had warmly invited them to stay with him if they want but they had both smiled and said _"Nah, we got places at the moment._ "

And that was it, they were waiting for _their_ nakama. While Luffy may not have found _everyone,_ he had found a great deal of people.

So, the two shared their own house together nearby the _Thousand Sunny,_ and made sure that they still caught up at _least_ once a month, except it was truly more often now that they were so close.

Ace sighs, where to go? He _could_ just call up Luffy and drag him off on an adventure but there was something tugging him to the train station that day.

Pulling out his opal card he swipes at the card reader, it tells him cheerfully that he has $50.48 left on his card.

The train-station is not very crowded today, only a few people linger around, waiting for their train to arrive.

The next transport is to Sydney, apparently.

As the old thing pulls into the station he climbs in, a few ladies and a guy give him appreciative stares which he pointedly ignores, he hasn't been into the whole romance thing to be honest. Not the right people, and he doesn't want to risk creating a _child,_ regardless of gender.

(He's not dumb, he knows what kind of anatomy males have but there's still an innate fear that _he_ will create a child)

He gets off at a place that proudly displays its' name as 'Dora Creek', the platform is completely barren, essentially just a wooden plank, there's not even a display for when the next train comes.

He wanders aimlessly around the main street, there isn't a whole lot in town, mostly just pubs and little commercial stores with overprices lollies, it seems the kind of town where everybody knows everyone down to the nitty-gritty details.

Why is he here?

That much becomes apparent as his feet pull him into the workers club and slides into one of the booths at the counter.

"What'll it be?" The guy behind the counter asks, his hair pulled up into a bun.

"Do you have cooper's pale ale on tap?" He asks.

"Sure. Say, where are you from?"

"Y'know, around." He replies, he doesn't usually like to just randomly give out his address, especially to strangers.

The bartender slides his coopers over to him and watches him idly, judging him before moving on to what Ace presumes are the locals. He still has no idea what he's doing in such a barren place.

Well, that is until a man with a ridiculously large pompadour walks in.

"Thatch m'boy!" One of the locals waves the man over and now that Ace really looks around, he is filled with an odd sense of déjà vu, the locals are all huddled around fake-candle lit tables, draped in mismatched table-cloths.

Ace's feet bring him over to the pompadour before he can think and suddenly he's standing before them all, beer held in his hand.

One of them peers at him before a grin lights up their face, "We know you, don't we?"

And suddenly his cloak (who the hell wears a cloak anyway) falls away and he's staring at an old face with- _pineapple hair._

"Marco?" He knows but he doesn't know who this man is, but the lines in the man's face and the sadness he carries is oppressing.

"That's me." He says, "You've already seen Thatch, I presume. And you're Portgas D. Ace, it's been a long time."

"You know me?" There's something stirring in his gut, maybe guilt?

"Damn straight I do." His voice cracks a little but the man moves toward him and brings him into a tight hug, Ace feels like he's being encased in warmth and love. "But you don't remember…"

Thatch turns to him, grinning and joins the pair. "Been a while Acey, no need for the tears."

And he touches his face, surprised for his fingers to come away wet. He blinks dumbly and feels a sob rip free before he buries himself into the man's shoulder.

"Anyway, we should go see _Oyaji_ ," Marco says and gestures to the locals who pull their hoods away carefully.

And he _knows_ all of their faces, but he doesn't, it's frustrating on a fundamental level. And for some reason, he already knows who this _Oyaji_ is despite only doing a year or so of Japanese.

He'd picked it up with an ease he had yet to examine.

The group – who Ace names in his head – leads him to the far east coast line where a mansion-esque house resides.

Thatch is by his side, has yet to leave it, and Ace is grateful, this is all so so much.

"This is your house?"

"No," Thatch answers, "the owner of this place lets us use their dock so we can get to our island."

"An entire _island_?" He asks, gobsmacked.

"Yup, Marco here has enough accumulated wealth for us to buy a country, probably." Thatch says.

"Not that I would, I like this country enough to stay here." Marco says, his hearing somehow picking their conversation from the front of their group.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Then Jozu snorts at the irony.

Izo shakes his head, "It's terrible, it's always so damn hot, like why can't we live elsewhere?"

"You're just annoyed because it makes your make-up melt off." Namur comments.

"So what if I am? It's true and you know it."

Ace laughs, long and hard, truly feeling like he is at home among these weirdly wonderful people.

"Alrighty, here we are, Blamenco, is she right to sail?"

The portly man in question gives the large fisherman ship a once over, getting close to the water to make sure they won't drown on their short trip.

"Yeah, she's right to go."

"Then let's go."

"So, Ace, what's your profession?" Vista asks, his moustache curled perfectly.

"I'm a fire-fighter."

"Really?" Marco seems to find that hilarious as do the others, he feels his face turn bright red.

"What's so incredulous about that?" He demands.

"Just, we thought you'd be setting things on fire." Marco says and the others nod in agreement.

He snorts, there had been _one_ incident where he might have… sprayed the wrong substance on a burning building, thank goodness it was evacuated prior. "Thanks for the vote of confidence guys."

"No problem dear." Thatch laughs.

"Why do you guys live here of all places?" Ace asks, because, out of all the little rural towns in Australia, this one is tiny. Not as bad as ones in land, closer to Uluru, but Dora Creek really is a small town.

He thinks he remembers a sign that boasted 1000 occupants.

"Because the people _like_ us here, that and I like the little islands off shore." Marco replies easily.

Namur and Rakuyo are at the front of their fisherman ship, accompanied by Blamenco.

"Oh, and Marco here is a worry-wart." Blenheim comments, grinning.

"I think you mean, _mother hen_." Thatch corrects and Blenheim nods, conceding his mistake.

"Shut up," Marco says, no heat in his statement, "I'm allowed to worry."

That, for some reason, seems to suck all of the happiness out of the atmosphere.

"Have… have you been by yourself?" Ace asks, what he really wants to ask is _how long, how long have you waited for us?_

Marco sighs, "Too long."

Nobody speaks for a few sombre seconds before Izo says, "Well, most of us are here now."

"Mm."

"Actually, that reminds me, Atmos, Haruta and Kingdew, are they _here_?" Ace asks.

"Yeah, they're still with Oyaji, he doesn't like to come into town too often, we mostly go there for a quick drink and to pick up supplies." Curiel replies.

They mostly talk about their education and jobs after that, Ace is fascinated by the love they seem to unconditionally exude for him.

He doesn't understand it but he thinks that he found the rest of himself.

Suddenly his phone begins to ring, _Little Chalk Blue_ blaring out of it, grimacing, Ace digs into his pocket, he's obviously been gone longer than he expected. " _Oh thank god, where are you?"_

Sabo sounds panicked and Ace doesn't really blame him, "I'm in Dora Creek."

There's a pregnant pause as Sabo processes that, " _Seriously? That tiny little town? Why?"_

He shrugs then realises Sabo can't see him, "Look, I found some people out here, I'll probably be back tomorrow."

Sabo lets out a long-suffering sigh. _"Okay, can you just tell me next time you want to randomly go somewhere? Or at least pick up the phone? I thought Luffy was going to have a panic-attack when I told him I didn't know where you were- He's fine Luffy- here!"_

He winces, he hadn't really thought about that, "He'll be fine, just tell him I'm with pineapple-head."

Marco gives him a glare.

 _"Pineapple-head? Lu, he's with 'pineapple-head'."_

Suddenly Luffy grabs hold of the phone cos he yells into the receiver, _"Yo Ace, yo pineapple-head!"_

"Hello Luffy." Marco smiles, and Ace is surprised to see most of the commanders smiling along with him and yelling hello into the receiver.

Who knew his brother was so popular?

" _Thanks for taking care of Ace!"_ Luffy is quieter this time, but it would still make his ears ring if he was too close to the receiver.

"No problem!" There's another few missing words that Ace knows they can't say despite their want to.

" _Bye Ace!"_

 _"…Alright, see you Ace."_

"Bye." He ends the call

"Ah, so you're with your brothers… that's good." Marco comments.

Fossa, perpetually smoking, unclips a radio from his waistband, "Shirohige, come in, over."

" _Oscar, this is Lima, we copy, over."_ Despite the tinny quality, Ace can hear clearly that they are young.

 _"_ We're about 3 clicks out and we have bravo with us, over and out." Fossa replies.

 _"Got it,_ _over and out_."

"Was that Haruta?" He asks.

"Yeah, Marco devised our names, don't know how, they're kind of weird." Vista confesses.

The island that has been steadily growing closer comes into full view, it's _huge,_ is Ace's first thought. His second is that he's impressed by the sheer amount of _farming_ he can see from out in the fisherman ship.

"The port's around the other side." Thatch says as they sharply turn to the right, "If you go by the front, your ship will be shredded by rocks."

"That seems a bit…"

"Excessive?" Marco finishes, grinning, "Nah, I _guess_ it's excessive to have such terrible terrain on both sides, that port and the other are both red herring's."

"Why? Who would want to rob us?" And he's already called himself a part of their mismatched nakama.

Marco's eyes darken, "Not really anyone I know of right now… but who knows."

Blamenco jumps out of the front and ties the ship down, Ace can see four hulking figures on the shoreline.

He leaps after them, noticing that Marco takes extra precaution to _not_ touch the water.

"Haruta, Atmos, Kingdew!" Ace yells waving, and then he truly takes stock of the man beside him and feels utter _reverence_ wash over him. _"Oyaji._ "

"My son." And his voice is still as deep and smooth as Ace remembers _guesses._

He willingly allows himself to be encased in slightly larger than normal arms, pressed against the man's chest.

"How do you fare, _Ace_?" And _of course,_ he knows his name.

"I'm well." He says, years of unlearned manners coming back to him.

A deep rumble of laughter resonates through the man and Ace grins along with him, "I think this calls for a party!" Whitebeard – cos that's his name, Ace _knows_ – declares and the commanders – he knows that that's what they are as surely as he knows that Luffy will always need to be protected – jump for joy.

Later on, when the fires have burnt away to embers and most of the commanders are completely drunk, high or both, Whitebeard quietly pulls him aside, despite being drunk and says, "So, did you find the answer you were looking for?"

Maybe in another life, the pair knew each other, for Ace remembers a time of fire and water, and _life_ and _freedom_

"Yeah, I think I did."

* * *

 _Alrighty, their code-names are based of the NATO phonetic alphabet according to division they commanded. Marco does remember, he's the only one ever to remember, i'm basing it off being a phoenix because in mythology they reincarnate naturally, so basically, he's immortal, and he remembers when the shirohige kaizoku were a thing. And he's slowly gathering all of the whitebeard pirates together on one island._

 _Dora Creek is a real place in Australia, and the description... yeah, it's pretty much that... Dunno about islands of it tho *shrug*_

 _An opal card... do they have them in other places? idk, they're like little credit cards that you tap on buses, ferries, trains that take money out instead of purchasing a ticket. i think they're dumb but now paper tickets aren't sold where i live so i need one... kill me._

 _That little stab at "One time he had pumped a different substance" is from this: post/101694873043/inspired-by-x-its-probably-for-the-best-that it also has the original link in that redraw._

 _I think that's everything important?_


	11. Chapter 11

yikes it's been over a month hasn't it? and this chapter isn't even that good... im sorry yall.  
im aiming to do another chapter next week when it's actually halloween. im gonna be posting a whole lot less mostly because of exams in 2 weeks. Yikes. And i finally am gonna go see a godamn therapist about my issues with just about everything.  
I do hope you enjoy the short chapter

* * *

Usopp thinks that they're not particularly suited to this way of life, the lavish dining, courtesy of Sanji, how _expensive_ everything is.

They need money if he's perfectly honest.

He's gonna start a diploma of graphic design to start and really support them all, he thinks that Luffy's going to eventually begin the path to a firefighter, it's probably because of Ace but it also means that it doesn't matter that he didn't finish high school.

Sure, it goes a long way when you're considered but he has no doubts that Luffy's natural, _charm,_ will get him in.

And the TAFE building is only a bus trip away, it would be perfect.

They're all going to be okay, Robin is still highly respected for her work at the local University and she's written freaking _books_ and is still raking in the royalties from that.

Some of her works are… dubious, but that's fine, she's educational in the way she describes brutal torture methods and how to _really_ hide a body.

There's a few methods, according to her, one of which includes going to several stores and paying for lye in cash – sodium hydroxide – it's better than most acids and it dissolves the body if heated to 300⁰C.

And after that- he may or may not had run away from the woman, she was _freaky_ okay?

He definitely saw Sanji looking at ways to found restaurants, and Nami was looking at other ways to make cash quickly.

They also all work at Jinbe's aquarium to keep it working, sometimes it's really _weird_ hours to accommodate for their own activities. Usopp mostly works night-shifts and _early_ morning ones, he cleans a lot, and he's _good_ at it

Sanji during school hours – though, he only works a couple of hours so that he can back to the restaurant, he's naturally the chef and cooks up enough that when the relief chef joins, she can flit about the kitchen with ease.

Nami's available all the time although she's an expensive worker but she makes and exception for Jinbe, naturally. She works as the accountant and calculates the costs of, well, everything.

Zoro works when he wants to and ends up napping half of the time and getting lost the other half, so Jinbe writes him off as a _lost_ cause. He chills behind the bar, serving the weird customers and jabs at Sanji when the two cross paths.

Luffy works weird hours too, while he works during school hours, he sometimes does long shifts that take up almost the entire day. He takes guided tours around because he's the best at remembering the _cool_ areas.

Robin assists Luffy with that, giving the correct terminology when words fail him. She mostly works the same time as Luffy but has no qualms with any kind of hours. In the in between, she works with Franky as the architect of the new building.

Franky, he's busy upgrading sections of the aquarium, and eventually, he'll finish the outside, he's already working on a _super~_ awesome name.

Usopp reckons that by the time Franky fully upgrades the aquarium, Sanji will be able to leave his job that offers much higher than Jinbe can afford. They'll all work more often and harder and it'll really start to pay off.

But, he still thinks he should do his diploma at TAFE.

It's fine, they'll be fine, at least they own the house, they don't even have to pay for power – Franky uses various solar powered devices to give them electricity and even the water is heated by the sun.

It's cool, that they're this self-sustained, to the level that half of the time when Sanji ventures to the markets to buy fresh food, it's mostly only spices and meat, _a lot_ of meat.

But, it's approaching Halloween and he really can't begin to fathom how much they all love Samhain's festival. It's mostly due to the prospect of being able to get _free_ lollies and have the chance to dress up without being ridiculed.

It's such an awesome time of the year, he wouldn't call himself… a _coward,_ persay, but he's probably the most rational, or perhaps crazy out of their group when it comes to scary things.

Last year he'd gone with his Ma to Luna Park after dark and gone through the haunted house that had been erected for the occasion.

They'd also gone on the Hairaiser – which he thought was terrifying on the way up but even more terrifying was the drop – and the Ranger, the ride that turned upside down, it didn't freak him out as much as the Hair raiser cos it was fun!

And fortunately, they'd gone on a school day so all of the little rascals were sitting in classrooms while they got to be at the front every time they went for a ride.

Then they'd dined elsewhere because 'scuse you, those prices are _ridiculous,_ and had eventually decided on stopping at a Japanese _cuisine_ restaurant.

It hadn't been Disneyland but it had been just as great in his _humble_ opinion.

It's probably his favourite memory in his short lifetime upon this Earth but it was still the _best._ There were several other contenders, like the time he'd had a ball on April Fool's day (his birthday as well, unfortunately everyone thought that _that_ had been his prank – tch, _amateurs_ ).

It had started with gladwrap around doorframes and ended with Zoro wandering back to their shared house, mattress soaked, following him after Usopp had managed to drag his ass to the water front and had said, "How did you all get lost?"

In hindsight, he probably should have guessed that Zoro would brush it off as ' _them getting lost'._

Although, Sanji had to deal with pink hair for a week and Chopper with toothpaste replacing all of his treats.

(He hadn't _touched_ Nami in fear of how high his debt would be raised)

Jinbe had mysteriously found battered fish in place of his babies and almost had a panic attack until Usopp showed him _where_ they really were. That probably wasn't his brightest prank, and probably his most mean-spirited.

For Luffy, he had swapped out any meat in the household to tofu – Sanji had been on board immediately and had served it up with as much gusto as usual.

Luffy hadn't known the difference until he bit into the _not-meat,_ as he had shrieked.

But, it was definitely part of his top ten moments in life, tying first place with Ma's trip to Luna Park.

Ace had dragged Luffy and Sabo out to somewhere called 'Dora Creek' for a couple of days and when they had come back, they seem… perhaps lighter?

He doesn't know and it's not like he's going to intrude on their other _other_ lives.

So, in the morning, a week before Halloween he declares loudly at breakfast – to be heard over the din of Luffy chewing, Sanji and Zoro bickering and the general chatter of their group – "Alright people! It's a week before Halloween and it's time to go shopping!"

"Hell yesh!" Luffy laughed, spraying food _everywhere,_ and, unfortunately, they're used to it, at least, judging by the way Robin gracefully dodges the food and Nami brings Sanji in front of her.

"Cool cool cool, now, let's talk about what you all wanna go as." Usopp says and with a smile he brings out a whiteboard with all of their names down plus a section for Sabo and Ace.

"Definitely Westley." Zoro declared, crossing his arms in defiance.

"Alrighty, Zoro as Westley." Usopp scrawled Westley and P.B. next to it.

"I wanna be _Captain_ Jack Sparrows." Luffy said – this time with an empty mouth – stressing the captain part.

"Right," so he wrote C.J.S and P.C. under Luffy's section.

"Steven!" Chopper smiled widely. "I've already got my costume too!"

Usopp nodded and scrawled Steven Universe under Chopper's section.

"Witch." Nami said without hesitation, flicking through her twitter (it cost money to follow her – not that her followers knew that).

"Of course." Usopp said deadpan, writing it down.

"I will be Prince Charming!" Sanji said with a flourish. "Nami-swan, Robin-chan, I will protect you!"

He wrote it down without comment as Zoro insulted Sanji without fail.

"I think I'll go in the hulk buster suit. It'll be super~!" Franky jumped on top of the table, slamming his metallic arms together.

"Definitely Aqua-man, probably the new guy." Jinbe added, chewing on the _tail_ end of the grilled fish they'd had this morning.

"Robin?" Marker poised over the white-board he turns his gaze to their resident archaeologist.

"I believe I have decided to go as Hel, daughter of Loki and Angrboða." She replied, taking a sip of her coffee – bitter as always. "And who will you masquerade in this year, Usopp?"

"I will be going as Lúcio from Overwatch." He said with a grin and a prideful jab to his chest with his thumb.

"Now that that is decided," Nami said as soon as he had written Lúcio under his own name, "Decorations, Franky, where are you with that?"

"Super~! Nami-sis!" Franky shouted, again, posing on top of the dining room table.

"Do you think you can work out how much money you'll need?" Nami asked, already bringing out her accounting book, an economist at heart obviously.

"Sure sis, I can get right on that."

"Sanji-kun, how are we in terms of food prep?"

"I have a list written out of ingredients I'll need Nami-swan~!" Sanji twirled a little at the thought of helping out his Nami-swan.

"Mhm, Robin, oversee Franky's decisions and make the house as spooky as possible." Nami said, referring to her list once more. "We'll all go shopping soon for costumes, I can help make costumes… for a fee."

"Tch. I think I'll do it myself." Zoro said, unknowingly dodging a metaphorical and literal bullet.

"Your loss." Nami shrugged helplessly, "I'm giving you half an hour to get ready. When making your decisions, make sure that you dress knowing that you're going to be changing."

With that, everybody dispersed from the dining room to their own rooms, Nami was already changed of course, so she sat by herself, basking in the glow from the aquarium, steadily drinking her chai latte.

When they regrouped down in the common room, Nami said, "Alright, Robin, Chopper, Luffy and Zoro, you're with me. Usopp, take Sanji, Jinbe and Franky."

Naturally, Sanji complained about being with smelly, immature men and incurred the wrath of Nami when he and Zoro inevitably broke out in a fight.

"Let's go!" In Nami's car, the only person trusted with the auxiliary cord was Nami, and at Robin's request played Caravan Palace.

"Oiiii!" Luffy yelled across cars, leaning over Robin to access the window, Robin seemed to enjoy the chaos despite how much Nami yelled at him from the front seat.

"Luffy, I swear to god, if you don't stick your head back in the window right now I'll tell Sanji to feed you only vegan products for a month!" Nami finally snapped.

Successfully chastised, Luffy leaned back into the middle, between Robin and Zoro.

The first shop they hit up was the local op-shop, where Zoro and Luffy found cotton shirts for their characters and Sanji bought a little toy shield and sword.

Usopp discovered an old pair of rollerblades that clearly hadn't been loved but bought them anyway.

"To the mall." Nami said with gusto, throwing their possessions in the back.

At the mall which actually turns out to be Westfield, a shopping metropolis, Nami parks her car and instructs Usopp to park the van and they end up going to the Spotlight, next to the Westfield.

Inside, she gets fabric for both herself – a lot of it – Robin, Luffy, Zoro and Jinbe.

Franky insists that he will make his own badass robot suit, and he promises Usopp that he'll help him create the most _super_ ~ Lúcio suit to ever exist.

Sanji will get his armour elsewhere but settles with reusing some of his older shirts at home.

Chopper mostly just wanders around the store in awe of the party and costume design stuff.

"Shishi, they have a fake dreadlocks wig Nami!" Luffy pulls the wig out of the packaging and pulls it on over his own unruly hair.

"Luffy! What did I tell you about packaged things?" Nami whispered fiercely, but eyes the wig appreciatively either way.

"Sorry Nami." He said, not sounding sorry at all.

Nami lets out a long-suffering sigh and says, "Okay, seeing as you've desecrated it already, we might as well buy it."

 _Thankfully,_ the man at the checkout is _very_ helpful when Nami asks him _politely_ if she can have everything with 50% off the original price.

It doesn't have anything to do with the way that she leans over the counter and pouts in the way that she knows causes men to have heart attacks.

"Fufu, that was quite devilish, Nami." Robin comments as they vacate the premises.

She flicks her hair, "No clue what you're talking about Robin."

Back in Westfield Franky manages to find a home depot centre and buys all kind of malleable metal for both his own suit and Usopps' _super_ ~ one.

"Nami, I'm hungry." Luffy begins to complain and Nami pinches her nose in frustration, they've barely been here an hour.

"Sanji-kun, did you bring lunch?" She asked calmly.

"Of course Nami-swan!" The cook cried in delight, presenting his backpack stocked with sandwiches and drinks – while Cola was preferable, pepsi was an absolute _not._

So, she stole them one of the communal tables in the middle of the food court and ignored the dirty looks of passer-by's who clearly wanted a seat in the mess of this place.

It might also have something to do with how _loud,_ they all are.

Finally, _finally,_ they make it to K-mart where Luffy, Chopper and Usopp make a commotion trying to play with the new iPhone. And Nami swears to make a formal complaint to the manager of the store that they don't showcase said phones.

"Why don't we look for a movie to watch on Halloween?" Robin asked calmly as ever despite the din of the males in their group.

Nami shrugged in response, "We can just pirate it, not like we care enough to buy it."

"True, I suppose." Robin answers with a wistful look on her face.

"Oi, oi, Jinbe." And without any preamble, Zoro throws the trident he found javelin style to the large man who catches it without much effort.

"Thanks Zoro-san." Jinbe replies, glancing down at the glinting plastic.

Franky emerges from the aisle dedicated to decorations baring the weight of several packets of streamers, ghost and black cat flags and a witch that cackles loudly as a sensor tucked under his arm.

"Alright, we're done here, let's roll out people!" Nami declared loudly and before anyone could protest, began to drag Franky to the checkout, grabbing Jinbe's trident and Zoro's bandanna on the way.

The car trip is just as eventful with Zoro managing to hurl a tomato (don't ask anyone where he got it from) that didn't nail Sanji, but Luffy in the face who had shrieked at the feeling and knocked Robin's coffee out the window, they'll all deny it 'til the day they die – which may be closer than expected – but they _did_ think they were about to be pulled limb from limb.

Robin was appeased by stopping at her favourite café which doubled as a bookshop, appropriately dubbed 'The Press Coffeehouse'.

When they arrived at Sunny, it was to discover that they were no longer alone and inside were Ace and Sabo, casually lounging in the common room

"Oh hey guys." Ace said with a grin, beer in hand.

"Ace! Sabo!" And Luffy hurtled past to collide with the pair of brothers.

"Woah, hey there Luffy." Sabo patted his back, and placed his own beer down.

"What are you guys doin here?" Franky asked curiously.

"Well, Ace wanted to tell the rest of you and Luffy that yes, he is allowed to do work experience with Ace." Sabo said, and popped a champagne.

"Woo! I'll get to work with Ace!" Luffy said happily.

"Luffy, how come you didn't say anything?" Robin asked.

"Meh, I forgot." He said casually.

The entire group face-faulted, "Of course he did."

"Anyway, Ace, Sabo, what do you two plan to go to Halloween as?" Usopp asked, and zipped off to find his whiteboard of names, earning him an odd glance for a few seconds.

"Depends, what are you going as Lu?" Sabo asked.

" _Captain_ Jack Sparrows." He replied from Ace's lap, still stressing the _captain_ part.

"If that's the case then we'll probably go as pirates too." Sabo said. "Doesn't matter which ones, right Ace?"

"Of course not, just as long as we aren't the King." It was a weird thing to say but said nonetheless by Ace.

"Now that that's settled, why don't we go down and spar?" Luffy asked, leaping up from Ace's lap.

"Sure, god I love this house." Sabo said with a laugh.

And later on when Luffy beats them, they don't really care, just laugh it off and stay for dinner and monopoly (Nami wins by making them all bankrupt in probably ten trips round the board.)

* * *

um, so a few things to note in this chapter.

-The Press Bookhouse is a legit place, i love it from the pits of my black heart, it's literally so adorable, filled to the brim with books but coffee as well!

-Halloween isn't big in Australia... at least, not where i live. Got a lot of inspiration off Codenamezimbabwe on tumblr for costume ideas.

-Are Westfields a thing where you live?

-I thank peopleofmoonia so much for inspiration a longgggg time back on them all helping out at the aquarium

-i forgot to capatalise on their nationalities! and their jobs! so that's what the beginning is about

-never actually been inside a large shopping mall, only the sad ones where i live, there's like 10 shops in them. although, ive been to a factory outlet in one of the major cities.

-AND wowie, house prices have dropped like 1% even though they've increased by 60% in the last year gher0g how fuckin great.

-oh rightio, if you live in Ireland i wish you the best of fuckin luck for Hurricane Ophelia (god why use a shakespearian name tho?)


	12. Chapter 12

Jesus christ 4(?) months came and went really quickly and i had nothing to show for it, the motivation would just not come to me. But here i am, and this time there will definitely be a chapter in either a week or a few days. wish me luck for year 11 im ready to dieee.  
Anyway, i'm not _that_ salty at Thor Ragnarok, i actually loved it, it was the perfect balance of hilarity + it played the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin! I'm just lowkey salty at the portrayal of certain mythologies, but no, i don't hate it.  
I hope you enjoy this sad sad excuse of a story. And thank you to MasterQwertster for betaing for me so quickly !

* * *

Luffy laughs as free as a lark, at the sight of Zoro covered in sea-weed. They're back at the beach, as a family and Sanji had gone into the waves with a smirk, returning from the waves with a clump of seaweed in hand.

"Oi, curly-brow." Zoro says, truly looking like a demon of the sea as he emerges from the sun-shade, brandishing a slowly melting ice-block. He hurls it, hitting right between Sanji's curly brows.

Taking a moment to gape as the liquid slowly trickles between his eyes, Sanji grabs a handful of sand and throws it at Zoro, accidentally catching Franky in the crossfire. "Oi, oi! If this is a sand war you're going to have to… count me in!" And his big hands scoop up massive piles of sand, dusting them with the sand.

"Oh it _is on._ " Usopp declares, rifling through his bag for the rotten eggs he stores in there for moments like these.

"Wah, no, Usopp!" Luffy rolls out of the way by a hair breadth, the egg landing on… Nami…

"…"

"…"

"and 3… 2… 1…" Zoro murmurs under his breath as Usopp's face greys to the point of death having warmed over.

"USOPP!" The earth shakes with the power of her roar as the demoness grabs the running sniper by the ear and then whispers quietly in his ear. "I can hurt you with words…"

"Nami?"

"Your debt is infinite." She smirks as he begins to bawl his eyes out and he lands on the ground, curling into a little ball.

Luffy begins to laugh again, and before long, the entire group (sans the culprit and victim) laugh along at the scene. The man's laughter is simply infectious.

"Don't worry Usopp, I'm sure it can't be tha-" Jinbe tries to comfort the man who tilts his head, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"How? Being in debt to Nami is like signing your own death warrant." Usopp cries.

"Fufufu, quite the dilemma, is it not, Usopp?" Robin laughs.

"That's not helping, Robin." Chopper says as Usopp falls back into the sand.

"Do you think we should be serving grape juice or wine at his funeral?" Sanji muses.

"Superrrr! Cola!" Franky cries.

"Sake." Zoro says.

"Tea." Jinbe snorts, giving into the inevitable antics.

"What about the blood of Nami's victims? Much more poetic." Robin laughs disturbingly, which is acceptable, given that it's Halloween.

Even so, the group cringes away at the graphic description while Sanji taps his chin thoughtfully, adding to Usopp's utter misery. "If you're going to kill me, make it quick."

"Nuh uh! Not so quickly! I'll hunt you down even through whatever after-life there is until you cough up your money!" The demon herself declares, looming over the poor soul who dared antagonise her.

Zoro nods like he has proof that she _can_ do that. Nobody doubts it, given how many times Nami has accidentally-on-purpose put someone into debt for speaking to one of _her_ nakama.

She would make an excellent lawyer, quite compelling, but she seems to be against doing anything to represent people she _knows_ have committed awful crimes.

Checking his watch Jinbe declares, "It's time to reapply lest you all burn."

Luffy sighs but does as he's told. He's _never_ been sunburnt in his life, but he supposes that just means he should be extra careful.

"I think we should be leaving anyway." Chopper says, looking at his own watch.

"Yes, we wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to extort candy." Robin laughs sweetly.

"I don't think that's what Halloween is about Robin…" Usopp says.

"It certainly used to be, the one night a year when the youth became miscreants." Robin sighs longingly.

"What time are we going trick or treating again?" Franky asks, slowly edging away from where Robin is languidly reading.

Nami sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, "Just to be certain, let's run over the plan, _again,_ for the millionth time. If you ask me again, I will raise your debt by 120%." Taking a deep breath seeking patience from gods she doesn't believe in, she continues. "At 3:00, we'll eat dinner and at 4:00, costumes, 5:00, trick or treating. And, I hear that there is a lovely bar in town that celebrates Halloween regularly, so we'll end up there at some stage."

She's not going to tell them that she feels the same kind of pull to that bar as she did with Zoro and Luffy. Because, it might not even _mean_ anything.

Nonetheless, she ushers them into the Merry minivan and Sanji's Porsche and they go on their _merry_ little way back to the Thousand Sunny.

Nami hums appreciatively as the Thousand Sunny comes into view. They park and Sanji rushes off to begin dinner, after all, they _are_ on a schedule.

"Ne, Jinbe, wanna spar?" Luffy asks with an easy grin. Nami can see that he's still hyperactive and sighs in relief when Jinbe agrees.

"I'll take on the winner." Zoro says, grinning maniacally, and Nami internally curses, if those three cost her _too_ much…

Well, let's just say that you could dig a hole through the world and it wouldn't be as deep as their debt. Although… she'd have to start collecting debt of Usopp… with 200% interest of course.

Or maybe she could be generous and reduce it to 195%.

"Fufu, let's hope that Sunny can handle those three." Robin laughs, "And that we don't have to visit the Emergency Room when their bones snap."

Chopper cringes but calls after them to be careful to which Luffy responds, "Of course Chopper! But even if we aren't, you'll be there to look after us!"

"Bastard! That doesn't make me happy!" The student wiggles his hips, countering his words.

Franky sighs, "Robin-sis, Sunny can take _anything_."

"Oh? Would it withstand a barrage of nuclear missiles?"

"My workspace definitely would."

"Hm, I suppose we would survive the inevitable nuclear war then." Robin taps her chin thoughtfully.

"Hell yeah we would, Sunny is _Super!_ " Franky exclaims and slams his arms together in his signature pose.

"Although, it would certainly raise the question of who would procreate, or whether we would resort to cannibalism if there were insufficient food supplies. Who do you think would be the first to go?" Robin asks with a small smile.

Franky shudders and shakes his head at both questions, "That is so not super Robin-sis…"

She laughs, "Maybe I should write a horror story."

"You'd outshine Stephen King." Franky says, and he means it. Her sense of morbidity coupled with her acute sagacious view of the world would probably bring her to the very top of the food chain.

"Why thank you Franky. Perhaps I will have to dip my toes into the wondrous waters of the horror theme." Robin smiles, clearly pleased by the compliment.

He makes his leave and wanders around to find the stereo indoors, turning the radio on, the news flooding through the entire house.

"And, one last thing, just a friendly reminder to make sure to check your children's candy tonight." The male reporter says, "It's just been reported that a house in Maryland was handing out lollies with expired cocaine in it."

Nami raises and eyebrow, cocaine is _expensive,_ and people just _gave_ it away? But then again, it was expired, and it probably would've killed the children if they had consumed it. She really _would_ have to check their lollies, Luffy would scarf down _anything._

Slowly, the smell of ramen fills the house and she finds herself downstairs, watching the men fight. After Luffy beats Zoro (mostly because Zoro accidentally stepped out, going the wrong way) she stands, "Luffy, fight me."

"Hey Nami!" He grins, "Come join me in the ring then."

Jinbe takes his leave to go double check everything is okay with the Sunny and Zoro sits down, drinking alcohol _this_ early.

"Am I allowed a staff?" She asks, gesturing to their 'weapons' wall. It's hidden, and can only be unlocked by, firstly, one of them, and secondly, by a certain panel that seamlessly fits into the wall.

"Sure, I'll use one too then." She glances up in surprise at that, she never knew he could use one.

So, she pulls out the collapsible staff and watches as Luffy chooses the bo staff. "Have you used one of those before?"

"Dunno." He doesn't elaborate so she doesn't ask.

Zoro watches them with interest, and calls out, once more, "I'll fight this winner too."

"You ready?" Nami asks. When Luffy nods she leaps forward, flipping her staff between her fingers, slamming it down. Luffy blocks it with ease and swipes it to the side before aiming for her legs.

She jumps backward, narrowly missing stepping outside of the circle. Without preamble, Luffy rushes her and at the last second, switches the bo staff to his left hand, slamming it into her thigh. She lands on one knee wincing and from her vantage point, uses his momentum to try and push him out of the ring.

He leaps back and waits for her to rise. She's building up a sweat whereas he's not even breathing heavily.

Before either can advance, Sanji's voice calls over the speaker system, "Dinner's ready Nami-swan, Robin-chan, and the rest of you idiots." His voice flattening out when he mentions the males of the house.

"Tch, dumb curly-brow." Zoro says. He didn't know that Luffy could use a staff, but it was apparent that he was quite adept at it.

He'd have to take him up on a fight, staff against swords.

"Food!" Luffy yelps in excitement, replacing the bo staff in the wall with more care than Nami knew he possessed.

Zoro waits by what Nami assumes he thinks is the door but is really just the 'Super secret' entrance to the lobby of Franky's lab.

"Over this way Zoro!" Luffy tugs the green-haired man out of the sparring room, ignoring his grumbling.

Dinner is an affair as always, Luffy trying to steal more while he's consuming his own bowl.

Usopp regales Luffy with a tale of great adventure in a vain attempt to finish his own dinner before Luffy can steal it. He ropes Chopper in as well and Luffy manages to steal the student's bowl before he can realise it.

"Luffy!" Chopper cries in dismay when he notices that his own place-mat is empty.

The man in question looks far too innocently at Chopper, even though the noodles can be seen in his mouth, "What?"

"Did you steal my ramen?"

Luffy sweats for a moment before looking the other way and whistling to convey his 'innocence'.

"Here you go Chopper. Shitty-captain, if you steal this bowl, consider going on a vegan diet for a month." Sanji warns as he scoops some extra into the students' bowl.

Luffy's mouth gapes in horror, "Beacon diet? Does that mean that all I eat is light?"

Nami wonders where he heard that, but Sanji inhales his cigarette and exhales, putting on his scariest face, "Yes, all you will be able to eat is light, so stop stealing other people's food!"

Usopp gulps in empathetic fear, "Never…"

Robin laughs, and Nami joins her, the expression on Luffy's face is perfect and she wishes she had her camera on her.

"Zoro! Save me!" Luffy shouts in terror.

"Nah, maybe it'll teach you not to steal other people's food." Zoro says, leaning back on his chair, bottle of sake in hand.

Luffy whispers in his ear and he snaps to attention, "Curly-brow, if you steal his food I will cut you into little pieces." Dude, what did Luffy say?!

"Tch, I'd like to see you try."

"Should we attempt to stop them?" Jinbe asks cautiously to Usopp.

"Nah, if they fight it out now then there's a higher chance we'll have a fight-free evening trick or treating."

It's chaotic and Nami wouldn't have it any other way, Sanji keeps gushing over them while pouring white wine for them and tea seeing as they wouldn't want to be _too_ tipsy tonight, even though Nami is no light-weight and neither is Robin.

Actually, none of them are _really_ lightweight except for maybe Chopper who has only been able to drink watered down beer and mocktails. Franky, Usopp, and Sanji start to get merry after their fifth hard shot so, they're the designated light-weights.

"Ahhh… that was so good! Thank you Sanji!" Luffy smiles and pats his stomach in content.

Sanji smokes his cigarette to hide his grin of pleasure while he says, "Tch, it's no big deal idiot."

"Anyway, this is our first Halloween together, so I made you all something…" Sanji says, "Usopp helped me out a bit, I suppose."

He disappears into the cavernous kitchen, returning in a moment with a trolley housing something large (Nami knows what it is, but she'll indulge Luffy and Chopper), covered by a sheer sheet.

"I hope it's better than the mud in the backyard." Zoro mutters quietly. They all hear, but Sanji seems enraptured by the two knuckle-heads beating the table with their cutlery.

"Calm down idiots. Robin-chwan, Nami- _swan_ , I hope you enjoy this delectable treat," And with a flourish he whips the sheet away. It falls to the ground softly as they gasp in light surprise at the sight sitting atop the metal trolley.

It's easily twice the size of a wedding cake (and it probably tastes better than some dumb heavenly emper-) with a creamy looking orange and black frosting frozen mid-drip over the five tiers, on the base layer, a cemetery with a weird looking skeleton with an afro holds a rotting violin to the 'sky'.

"The fog is dried ice, it looks better like that anyway." Usopp says, and while he looks amazed by the overall product, he's still proud of it

The sky has been painted on the base of the next tier, a murky green colour, a moon being the piece the violinist stares at.

On the next tier a forest filled with bits and pieces of candies reside amongst stringy bushes, tiny faces drawn on top of them, pretty much everything has a weird little face, and in the 'sky', the sun and clouds swirl with demonic faces.

Beyond that, a brighter tier, filled with pinks and purple swirls, cotton candy dotting the landscape demands attention from its' incongruous to the overall theme of the cake, "Why is that tier pink Sanji?" Chopper asks.

"Well, the theme is scary things and well, it just _seemed_ terrifying."

"Yeah, pink is such a thing to be terrified of." Zoro comments with a nasty grin.

The next tier is a forest with a menagerie of creepy crawlies hidden throughout it, with miniature figures running in fear from the bugs. It has the typical Halloween elements, fiery pumpkins, ghostly looking figures, dead bodies, that sort of thing. And Nami's pretty sure that that tier has elements of _meat_ in it.

The top tier is what Nami presumes is _them,_ but they're each on their own, separated by an imaginary clockwork piece, each section decorated differently, all of them are different too, it's artfully tasteful, but still saddening.

Nami _thinks_ that some of the cake is made from meat and wonders how he would have been able to mix the two together.

Sanji claps his hands, "Now, which tier do you idiots want?"

"The one with meat in it!" Luffy shouts excitedly, and Nami _knew_ that he'd be able to smell it.

"I was talking to the _ladies,_ Luffy, they get first choice." Regardless, he cuts the sections with meat in it, specially made for Luffy.

Robin puts her fingers on her chin and taps it, "I would like a small piece from the bottom tier, but it would be prudent to allow the others chose first, I think."

After everyone is settled with their generous servings of cake, Sanji takes a piece for himself, Nami notes that nobody took any from the top tier, "So, the theme is things that terrify you, isn't it?" Jinbe asks.

"Mhm."

"I see."

After they finish the desert, Luffy bows in a rare display of courtesy and says, "Thank you for this delicious meal."

Sanji barely refrains from blushing, Nami thinks it's cute.

"Alrighty people! Costume time! You can come to me for makeup, we are all going to be _flawless_." She declares with a feline grin, she still hasn't decided whether she was going to charge them.

They all scurry off into their rooms and within the half hour, inevitably return to the lounge room, sliding down their slippery dip with the ease and grace of five-year-olds, "Shishi, I don't want makeup Nami."

He changed _very_ quickly, Nami knows because she finished quickly too, it was easy for her costume, and besides, she's quite efficient when it comes to changing clothes.

"Sure." She's already finished her own design, choosing to be Queen Ravenna from the Huntsman, because why not?

It may or may not be because the queen was mostly dressed in golden garments in the beginning, so, she chose to wear spray painted feathers, a striped bodice and pleated golden skirt.

The 'golden' rings are sharpened to the point that they would be on par with Zoro's beloved swords.

She only does so because it's going to be dark at some stage and who knows what creepers hide out at night. Actually, that's a lie, she's known a few assholes hiding out in the night, thank goodness for Zoro getting lost 24/7.

Anyway, they're incredibly sharp and she'll have to put them in some godamn foam and hope they won't tear the fabric to shreds.

"Do you like my dreads?" Luffy says with a grin, twirling the fakes around his fingers, he has a pistol and two short-swords strapped to his leather belt he's borrowed from Robin, a cotton shirt on tucked into leathery pants.

He's already rolled up the pants to his knees though, defeating the purpose of the length, she pinches her chin, "Luffy, why are your pants rolled up?"

"Because it's so hot." He whines.

She sighs, and in a second he lights up, "Actually Nami! Will you do a scar underneath my left eye?"

"Sure." She says and pats the chair for him to sit down and opens her extensive box of makeup, choosing some black pencil eye-liner, she draws a little half crescent scar underneath his eye.

When she finishes she can't help but notice him withdraw his hand from his chest and she asks quietly, "Is your chest hurting?"

His hand freezes and he hangs his head like a dog caught committing a crime, "A bit."

She nods and reaches into her box, "This should help a bit."

It's natural bees wax, the lemongrass kind, and she rubs a bit into his chest, dipping her finger into the round plastic container, "Thanks Nami."

"No problem, Luffy, you keep it. If your chest ever starts hurting again, you put some of this on it, you hear me?" She says firmly, pressing it into his hands.

He smiles again, "Sure, thank you!"

She hugs him firmly and when Chopper descends from the slide she smiles to him and wipes away the few tears that have gathered in her eyes.

"Do you have your little ukulele?" She asks.

"Yup!" Chopper brings up his little ukulele case that acts similar to a shoulder bag lest he forget about it.

He looks adorable as Steven, she's certainly glad he chose it.

"Wow, Nami! Those sure look sharp!" Luffy giggles, looking at the ring claws inside their foam casing.

"Cool!" Chopper shouts and bounds over.

The next to slide down is Zoro, Nami suspects he's been wandering around Sunny for a while now considering his costume would take minimal effort from the swordsman considering that he usually wears similar clothing.

Black jeans, billowing button-up and a piece of black material tying down the bottom of the shirt. Leather gloves and mask, bandanna and boots. He has his three swords strapped to his side but that hardly matters in this case.

Robin slides down with more grace than anyone, in a billowing dress half white, half black, cape attached to the thick layered straps. Her headpiece is a silver crown. "Hel, the personification of the grave."

"Wasn't she in that movie?" Luffy asked, unable to see the way Robin's face darkened minutely.

"Please refrain from mentioning that movie to me tonight, Luffy." She says calmly. "It is an abomination to Norse mythology and whilst can be appreciated for being a film in its' own right, it simply spreads rumours, falsities of the true Norse mythology.

"Hel was the daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrboða, thus the sister of Fenrir and Jormungand. She reigned over the death realm, keeping the unfortunate souls who did not die in battle. She is a cruel mistress, and has been depicted as being both in light and darkness, highlighting her impartiality to those who are among the dead. She was the one to keep Baldur – the most loved in all of the cosmos, when not everyone would weep for his death.

"That being said, if you ignore the falsities that 'Marvel' have spread about Norse mythology, it is quite an intriguing series." Robin finishes.

"Uh, thanks for the history lesson Robin." Chopper says cautiously, unwilling to wake the sleeping giant.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Robin laughs, "I _could_ tell you about how the Norse people believed earthquakes were created, it's quite brutal."

"I'm good." Chopper says with his hands placed in front of him.

"Did somebody call for their dashing steed?" Sanji declares as he sweeps into the loungeroom.

"No, and if I _did,_ it certainly wouldn't be from you, idiot." Zoro says.

"The armour is certainly an… interesting touch." Nami says slowly, to avoid being paralysed from the hug Sanji offers her.

Jinbe slides down and rolls into a standing position, decked in only the finest clothing for the one who controls the sea. Instead of the full armour which, in Jinbe's opinion, would be far too hot for the spring, which is pretty much summer, seeing as there isn't really too much of a difference between the two.

It's either Summer or Winter, no inbetween.

Anyway, Jinbe wears the sleeves of the Justice League adaptation, the shields and gauntlet-like amour looking amazing in the Sunny's _fantastic_ lighting. The pants are the same, tight like lycra but with thigh high boots.

The trident is the finishing touch, and it looks pretty good considering it's from K-mart and made from cheap plastic.

Usopp and Franky make their grand appearance by jumping up the stairs from Franky's _super~_ secret lab.

"Come on, let's bring it together!" Usopp shouts as he skates around them on his blades.

"Super~! Hulkbuster!" Franky shouts and slams his armoured arms together.

The suit is pretty damn convincing. While smaller than the movie one, it's still the same size as Franky, thus larger than all of them.

As for Usopp, he looks like he's almost right out of Overwatch with his glasses and oversized armoured 'pants', wires hooked up to his sonic amplifier.

"Wow so cool!" Chopper and Luffy scream in excitement at the pair.

Even Zoro, Sanji, and Jinbe are looking awestruck at the equipment.

"Boys and their toys…" Nami whispers, pinching her nose. But even she can admit that they're pretty damn epic.

"Fufufu, I quite like them." Robin says with a smile.

The door rings and Luffy bounds like a dog to it, Chopper hot on his heels. Nami sighs again and follows, putting on her rings (you can never be too sure).

Instead of trick or treaters as she suspected, Ace and Sabo are there, grinning like loons, "Ace! Sabo!"

He tackles the pair and they land outside of Sunny, "Idiot brother!" Ace says even though he's grinning.

Nami leaves them be, the door will automatically shut behind them anyway. She ushers Chopper back into the lounge room and mentally runs over their route through the neighbourhood.

The three brothers eventually return where Sanji serves up spider-drinks, creaming soda and ice-creams because root beer is not something all of them enjoy, and it's been agreed they all enjoy creaming soda.

"Ace, you're Bill Churner right? And Sabo, are you a marine?" Luffy tilts his head in puzzlement at his brothers' costume.

"Yeah." Sabo replies, "But, if you remember, he was an ass in the beginning, but he ended up saving _Bill Turner_ and by extension, Captain Jack Sparrow, right?"

"Hmm, true!" Luffy says and grins, "Besides, some marines are cool right?"

"Robin, your costume is very nice. Are you Hel?" Sabo asks.

"Why yes, it is, thank you, Sabo." Robin says, an appreciative smile gracing her lips.

"Damn is that a robot?" Ace asks in almost as much excitement as his brother as he notices Franky, "And Lúcio too?!"

"I see you have a good eye for good costumes Ace-bro." Franky says with a grin, his visor up.

"Yeah! We made them together." Usopp says proudly.

"They are pretty cool." Sabo agrees. "You all look fantastic."

"Are we ready to go then?" Nami asks, they all grabbed their pillow cases from the communal bed earlier, so all that is required is for them to leave.

"Yup! Let's go!" Luffy says with a shout.

"Hell yeah!" Chopper and Usopp reply in unison.

In spite of the fact that they were going to be incredibly hard to reign in, she smiles.


	13. Chapter 13

_ALRIGHTY, me keeping to my promises? whaaaaat?_  
 _So, my anonymous reviewer, Matt, who asked what Westley was from, he, my friends, is from the 'Princess Bride', an amazing movie that has everything in it, adventure, pirates, princes, romance, a tad of magic, it's the best!_  
 _And a thank you to MasterQwertster for wonderfully betaing for me :)_  
 _On that note, welcome to chapter 13!_

* * *

Luffy has an _awesome_ haul! Everybody they've crossed has complimented them and they've gotten so many lollies and chocolates!

It's the _best_.

It's even better now that Ace and Sabo are with them, they've got a little quad-whatever of pirates because Zoro is apparently a pirate too.

He didn't know until Sabo commented on it, but, considering it's a love story, he gets why he didn't know, love stories are dumb.

"We are the crystal gems!" Chopper shouts again, even though he's the only Steven Universe, but he certainly is awesome at the little ukulele. Luffy thinks he can remember him practising religiously.

Robin has given a few people historically mythological lessons when they comment on Thor Ragnarok in regards to the person she's portraying. Luffy thinks that being the goddess of death would be pretty awesome but also terrible. On one hand you'd be able to stay with your friends _forever._

But, you'd have to stay in the one place, unable to explore.

Robin seems to like Hel though.

Sanji has had several nosebleeds throughout the _knight_ , he giggles to himself at that _perfect_ pun, Brook would be proud of him…

He starts to hum, it's a shanty, familiar and yet not.

The rest of the group catch on and began to hum along too, Ace and Sabo listening in surprise.

After a while, the shanty ends and Nami glances at Chopper's watch, "Alright, we're going to a bar, it's got regular live music, so let's go find out how it is, shall we?"

"What's it called?" Franky asks.

"The Golden Bird or something?" Nami says distractedly. Luffy watches as she checks the street sign, taking a moment to orientate herself before making off in a seemingly random direction.

"Come on then you lot." She says.

Luffy laughs and follows after her. He should've bought one of those fancy ass swords, _that_ was a man's romance.

"You gonna share with me Zoro?" He sidles up to the swordsman, while trying to stealthily steal his pillow case.

"Nuh uh, pirates rarely share their booty." Zoro says, grinning while fondly swatting his hands away.

Luffy pouts. Oh well, it was worth a try, besides, he'd probably steal some later if Sanji doesn't manage to catch him.

"When does Luffy go on his work experience?" He hears Robin ask Ace.

"Well, in about a week, which is enough time for me to teach him stuff back here." Ace says.

"Do you know what his experience will entail?" Franky asks.

"Mm, we'd probably just show him the ropes, y'know? And if he's good enough, the boss might pay him to go study at TAFE because he'll be needing a certificate III in something. Or, they can ship him off to the school, I think it's 13 weeks overall and then he's a level 1 firefighter." Ace explains.

"Firefighting is certainly a terrifying job, but if you were to be with him I doubt any of us would be particularly worried." Robin says.

"Yeah…" Ace says and at that stage Luffy bounces onto Franky's _awesome_ mecha suit!

"Hello Luffy." Robin smiles warmly.

"How close do you think we are to the pub?" Luffy ponders, rolling over on the top of Franky's suit.

"Oi, Luffy-bro, don't go pushing anything, parts of the armour could fall off." Franky says.

"Shishi, okay."

Seeing yet another wonderfully decorated house Luffy jumps off Franky, Chopper and Usopp joining him.

He hears Nami huff and laughs, Usopp raps on the door enthusiastically, as the old woman appears they shout, "Trick or treat!" she smiles indulgently and puts some sherbets into their pillow cases.

"Why, young man, you make quite a dashing Westley." The lady giggled at Zoro who froze in stunned horror.

Robin and Nami laugh, and the old lady bids them a good night after everyone is stocked up on her sherbets as they leave.

"She was nice." Sabo laughs lightly.

Ace grins, "I don't think your swordsman, or your chef, will ever recover."

Luffy glances at Zoro who abruptly stands, memory erased permanently, Sanji, seems to be appalled that she didn't appreciate his 'Prince Charming'.

He laughs, "They'll fight and then it will be brought up if Zoro ever gets on the tv."

"Of course." Sabo smirks.

The suburban-esque housing with their gaggles of children gradually fade into the cleanliness of the city, skyscrapers in the distance reaching far into the sky. Nami turns down an alley and within minutes they appear before a bar called, lo and behold, the Golden Bird.

A neon light of said 'Golden Bird' flickers dimly against the fading light and a corresponding sign reads 'open'.

Soft music can be heard from their position.

"Alrighty, now, we won't stay for very long, but I want you all to behave okay?" Nami turns to them all.

"Of course Nami-swan!"

"Great, then you can reign in the rest of them, Sanji- _kun_." Nami says sweetly.

"Anything for you!"

The interior of the bar is reminiscent of a dingy 70's British pub, but cleaner and artfully dingy. The centrepiece is certainly the stage, surrounding it, potted plants and tables clothed in thick velvety sheets, candles providing a dim flickering light.

Nobody greeted them at the door, but Luffy can see the bright poker machines coupled with a thick hazy stench of tobacco. He wrinkled his nose.

Ace's phone dings, he grins at whatever the message is. "Oi, Lu, Sabo, get a photo with me." He flashes the camera at them and sends it off to whoever the original sender was.

"Greetings ladies and gentlemen," A middle-aged man greets them clad in a yellow pinstriped suit, he bows, "How can I help you this evening?"

Going by Nami's half-surprised look, he presumes it isn't normal for them to be greeted like this.

"We're here for the show." She says, smoothing over her surprise in a moment.

"Yes yes! Allow me to seat you." The Golden Bird is almost empty, aside from a few patrons who seem to be regulars, one who looks like a fancy peacock with the amount of feathers they have draped around them, another who smokes a thick cigar and looks like one of the Smith agents from the Matrix.

He winds through the tables and seats them at a long enough one for them all to fit in, "Ace, Sabo, what drinks are you after?"

"Just a sprite for me." Sabo says smiling and nudges his brother.

Scowling, "Coke please."

"Alright, non-sugar for you lot, beer for Zoro and Jinbe, Moscato if they have it for Sanji… Cola for Franky, Robin, what do you want?" Nami asks.

"Can you get me a long black coffee please?" Robin smiles.

She disappears to the bar, "So, how much did you guys get?" Luffy asks excitedly.

"I bet I got loads more than you moss-head." Sanji whispers across the table to Zoro.

Zoro merely tilts his head, "Sorry, more idiotic?"

"The most idiotic one here is clearly you. After all, who the hell apart from old ladies would recognise that costume?"

"Tch, more than they recognise you, curly-brow. After all, that _one_ particularly beautiful girl complimented it."

"Zoro, Sanji! Spill your haul!" Luffy decides to interrupt them both, his own pile is dubiously sized, he's not going to say anything about stealing it from Franky, nuh uh.

The two growl like those two funny cats he saw on the street. And they pour out their shares, and Luffy can already count that the pair have piles that are the same size.

Nami cuts off their inevitable brawl by returning with the drinks, a tray per arm, "Okay, Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, diet coke." She hands them out with the skill of an experienced bartender.

"The band performing are supposed to be starting now." She says, checking Chopper's watch.

As if summoned by her words, thick red sheets of curtain slide into place, the already dim lights of the pub fading away to darkness. The only light emanating from a spotlight focused on the stage, and the little candles.

From behind the curtain, a soft piano begins to play, and the man who seated them appears on stage, "Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, tonight we will have live music courtesy of the one and only; Bare Bones."

They all clap, "Good evening my fellow soul enthusiasts," A rich voice sounds from the speakers, "It is quite a _spooky_ time tonight, one of horror and misfits, the first song I will play for you is an old one."

And with that, Luffy's heart skips a beat as the song that haunts his waking and sleeping moments begins to seep out of the curtains, they're lifted as the violin quartet begin to join into the piano solo.

There are a few backup singers, harmonising with the elderly man.

The man at the piano who was the one to introduce them is quite old, despite his wrinkled appearance, an afro of solid black hair is perched atop his head along with a feathery scarf and crown.

" _Yohoho, yohohoho,_ _gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew. Sea-wind blows, to where? Who knows? The waves will be our guide~. O'er across the ocean's tide, rays of sunshine far and wide. Bird's they sing, of cheerful things, in circles passing by!_

 _"_ _Bid farewell to weaver's town, say so long to port renowned! Sing a song, it won't be long, before we're on our way! Cross the gold and silver seas, a salty spray puts us at ease! Day and night to our delight the voyage never ends."_

By this stage, all of them have begun to sing along with the pianist, even Ace and Sabo who don't seem particularly concerned that they're singing along to a song they've never heard in this life.

 _"_ _Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew. Pirates we, eternally, are challenging the seas, with the waves to rest our heads! Ship beneath us as our beds! Hoisted high upon the mast, our jolly roger flies. Somewhere in the endless sky, stormy winds are blowin' by! Waves are dancing, evening comes. It's time to sound the drums! But steady men may never fear. Tomorrow's skies are always clear! So pound your feet and clap your hands, til Sunny days return!_

 _"_ _Yohohoho, Yohohoho."_

 _"_ _Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew! Wave good-bye but don't you cry. Our memories remain! Our days are but a passing dream, everlasting though they seem! 'Neath the moon we'll meet again, the wind's our lullaby!_

Maybe, Luffy thinks, maybe they will.

 _"_ _Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew! Sing a song and play along, for all the ocean's wide! After all is said and done, you'll end up a skeleton! So spread your tale from dawn til dusk, upon these foamy seas!_

 _"_ _Yohohoho, Yohohoho."_

The ending is eerie in the all but empty pub, ethereal, celestial in its' way to draw in those surrounded by the notes.

"Wooo! That was awesome!" Luffy shouts when the man's played the last note.

He whips around so quickly that Luffy's certain he must have whiplash. "Ah, thank you, young man."

The elderly man stands and bows along with the others.

After that, the man plays a few more of his own songs before moving onto things like 'Born to be Wild' and 'Dream on', settling on 'Stairway to Heaven' for the encore.

"Good evening." The pianist approaches, overcoat draped over one arm, bony hand gripping a purple cane, guitar case in the other.

"You were super~!" Franky shouts and slams his arms together.

"Why thank you good sir, yohohoho!"

"What's your name, old man?" Luffy asks.

The elderly man thinks for a few seconds before humming, "Brook, Brook is my name."

Luffy's mouth splits into a wide smile and he hugs Brook. "Nice to meet you Brook! I'm Luffy and this is my nakama."

They all take turns introducing themselves and Luffy excitedly says, "And these are my two brothers! Ace and Sabo!"

"It is a pleasure to meet you all." Brook bows.

"And you." Sabo says.

"What brings you to the 'Golden Bird' this evening Luffy-san?" Brook asks.

"Just because! But, your music was awesome, do you want to be nakama?"

Brook ponders over it for a moment before grinning widely, "It would be an honour."

"Shishi."

"How long have you been in the 'Golden Bird'?" Usopp asks.

"Well, the years certainly blur together, but perhaps a decade?" Brook taps his chin.

"And you haven't wanted to go anywhere else?" Franky says, surprised.

"Not really, I find the atmosphere soothing, and it makes enough money that I can live off it."

Nami checks Chopper's watch again and sighs, "Okay, I think it's time we start heading out, it's already hit 9:00."

"Tch, if anyone jumps us I'll gut them." Zoro mutters.

They start to leave the pub, at the door Luffy turns around at the pianist, still standing there all by his lonesome, "Well? Aren't you coming? You're nakama."

The pianist smiles genuinely, one that splits his wrinkled skin and causes the creases around his eyes to become prominent. "Of course, Luffy-san."


	14. Chapter 14

Okay, first off im sorry for being off for so long, i literally say it every chapter and i hate that i cant just sit down and write out a chapter for you guys within at least a month so thank you to you guys for sticking with me.  
Thank you to MasterQwertster who has helped me so much in both the construction of this and (hopefully) my own writing.

Secondly, i kind of have a plan now? I worked a lot of stuff out with MasterQwertster and it's not set in concrete and i dunno how many chapters ill write but there's definitely a plan to end this lmao, you probs will pick up on it throughout the chapter. And i'll probably touch lightly on Zoro and Chopper's bday's before trying to move along bc im so damn behind.

Thirdly, I hope i don't offend any Buddhists out there if my description of Samsara is dissatisfactory, I've been studying it in depth with school and seeing as Samsara is such a major part of Buddhism i thought i understood it to the basic level. What i wrote about conflicting names has been consistent through all of the books and websites ive been reading.

Fourthly, I got another job! I had my first shift last night and holy shit it was so stressful but i kind of thrive under pressure lol. It's an Asian restaurant and they give you food at the end of the shift! School's been kicking my ass as always and I've got an exam that goes towards my end of school mark but ive decided i dont care yikes.

With that abnormally long A/N, enjoy!

* * *

Florian was grown like a well loved plant, watered necessarily and taught how to properly grow, but not truly loved.

That isn't to say that his family was cold or anything, after all, most plants could not stand the cold for very long.

No, his brother taught him the basics of music in between the periods that he was working. His mother, with long spindly fingers, taught him to _play,_ to play with the emotions he was feeling.

His father was rarely around, but when he was, he would teach Florian the way to _live,_ especially when he had been given a drink or two.

As he moved through life, Florian decided very decisively that something was missing from his life, more so than what the guitars and classical rock could fill.

Even the name 'Florian' gave him heartache and an inexplicable hatred.

And from the depths of his old and battered soul, he feels memories on the tip of his tongue, sliding back down to the back of his lungs. From his dreams he procures times of sailing with a crew, not one that he can remember clearly, but definitely a crew.

His name? It wasn't Florian, but he wasn't _sure,_ and that was the frustrating part of it.

The word Florian itself conjured dark thoughts of rotting corpses and shadowy figures. It brought about shame and anguish, but more frustratingly, it gave him more questions than answers.

The only dream he remembers clearly is a straw hat. Why? He doesn't know. It seems like a normal straw hat, red ribbon running around the top, frayed edges.

And yet he knows, somewhere within his heart that if he were to merely grasp this straw hat, everything would be alright, he would be able to clearly remember _everything._

Except, he also knows that such a treasure would hardly last for as many centuries as the figures in his dreams. Perhaps a scrap of the original would serve the same purpose?

His brother only lived in their house because he could pay rent, Florian had yet to secure a job because apparently he was too "exuberant", so, when he hit 18 he was kicked out.

Not that he minded, he became a roadie instead, getting bands from place to place, unloading and reloading the truck/van after every performance.

He was overly friendly too, and in these days, people liked that, so, he travelled the country, hitchhiking in cars across the continent.

And eventually, he meets someone willing to take him across the seas, within the confines of an airport. "I can get you across the sea to Australia, that's my next flight, but, you'll have to stay in the cargo section, nobody guards down there."

"If it gets me there, then I'll take it!" He says and enthusiastically grins.

And he met Ronnie James Dio! Of course, he was unable to say much more than a few mere words to which the living legend had smiled and thanked him for helping out.

"Yohoho, maybe I should make my own band…" And thus, he creates Bare Bones, it was only him at the moment, but who knows, the fluttering of a butterfly can create a hurricane miles away, so maybe he will be able to change the turning tide.

He starts out in the rain of dreary towns of the sun burnt continent, playing to his hearts' content amongst the people, and finally finds his way to Townsville, a particular town that specialises in country music and the blues.

He stays there for quite a number of years, playing in the local taverns, sometimes allowed to participate in the festivals for a small price.

But, that was years ago and eventually management changed hands and suddenly the council was kicking him off the street and the festival was much more widespread, thus, more expensive.

So, Florian, now known as Bare Bones, made his bed in a blooming city, playing to his heart's content in the streets, rain, hail, or shine.

He especially made sure to visit the mall, laughing because what a life to live!

"Would you like somewhere to perform every night?" A man in a yellow pinstriped suit approached him one day.

"Yohoho, how it would soothe my bones to play in a bar." He says, "It would be an honour, sir."

The man grins widely, "Welcome to the Golden Bird, what is the name you go by?"

"Bare Bones."

The only belongings he has are stored in the back of his Kombi van, that's also his lodgings, the little money he gets from the gathered crowds is given to the cost of fuel.

His first gig at the pub is a hit. People gathered around the stage looking like exotic birds in their clothing choices.

The piano hums in content as he plays along to a few of the backup musicians they were able to find on short notice.

He likes the atmosphere of the club and later on, after he has been paid by the manager, he collapses in his Kombi van, lamenting the fact that he has yet to dissipate the vague feeling of déjà vu in his mind.

Sleeping soundly through the night, he wonders what adventures lay in store for him.

Something about dolls and a barren country, devoid of life and love and yet brimming with a population as a peacock puppeteers the people.

"Yohoho, yohoho." He hums to himself as he busies himself getting changed.

And thus it continues, through his years, decades longer than he would have ever imagined, he maintains his performances at the 'Golden Bird', which feels odd. It feels as if he should only be performing for a specific person, or people.

People come and go as they always have and he smiles despite the odd feeling of being hollow, incomplete.

So, he fills his time by inspecting new restaurants, travelling to festivals in his spare time and, to the ocean more times than necessary.

It's the only thing that makes him _feel_ something.

It fills him with a sense of longing and purpose. However, he isn't going to quit his job because at least he _has_ a job, to a whim of the mind.

But, after seeing the sea regularly, his dreams become much more vivid, in a way that hasn't happened in his entire life.

It's on Halloween that he _knows_ something is going to happen. It's a fact.

There's building pressure inside of him.

Like he's about to explode.

And finally, the mounting pressure does just that, explodes outward onto the stage, messy and wonderful because the group of people at the table simply exist.

And that's enough for him.

So, when the performance is over, he walks over to them, packed up for the night after collecting his pay and when asked his name, Florian edges on the tip of his tongue.

Instead, he declares himself, "Brook." And _there_ it is! The name he sought for a lifetime! The one that meant that he would no longer wonder why his name brought him so much inexplicable grief and anguish.

Watching the group leave he feels himself become one, once more, like a piece he didn't know was missing became whole with him. He has a bout of déjà vu so intense he wonders, what would it be to simply turn around? To ignore the reckoning?

"Well? Are you coming?" Luffy-san calls over his shoulder and Brook grins for what feels like the first time in his entire life.

"Yohohoho! Of course, Luffy-san!" And he follows them right out the door.

They arrive back at the _Thousand Sunny_ which Brook knows the name of despite having never seen it before. However, the design is all wrong, like a child made play of a rather exquisite design.

Though, he can already tell that the metallic man would complete nothing less than the best, even if such a house that must have cost billions could be considered a cheap rip off.

Yet, the house has _life,_ like somebody poured their soul into the very foundations and created something worth a life.

"This is home sweet home." Franky says with a grin and raps the structure with the pride of a mother.

The door opens without any kind of handle and Brook laughs at the interior. It is simply magnificent!

Luffy pulls him through Thousand Sunny excitedly and introduces him to all aspects of the beautiful house, from the slide to the spas to the greenhouse on top of the roof.

"It's perfect, Luffy-san." Brook interrupts as they migrate down into the loungeroom. Luffy smiles widely and nods.

"It definitely is."

The loungeroom is filled with four overly large, leather lounges, poufs, blankets and pillows abound for them all to take preference over. The television is massive, taking up pretty much the entire wall, with a cabinet beside it housing hundreds of DVDs and CDs. From between the titles he notices some of the classics of his own era.

Sanji-san is passing out drinks and Brook remembers the two brothers that he has yet to meet. (He knows the rest of them, in the way he remembers in his dreams).

"Ah, hello, my name is Brook, what might your names be?" He bows slightly.

Fortunately, the group seems to get what he means for the two brothers smile, "My name is Portgas D. Ace, pleasure to meet you Brook."

"Likewise." He smiles.

"Sabo." The other man says and smiles widely.

"Ah, how it makes my bones sing to finally meet you all." Tears lead to his eyes, unbidden. And for a moment, he remembers a decision and a consequence, a brother lost to the tides of war.

The group smile back to him and Jinbe pats the seat next to him, "And what is the movie choice for tonight?"

Zoro hums, "What about It?"

"Sorry what, moss-head?" Sanji asks, a grin on his lips.

Zoro rolls his eyes, "You heard me ero-face."

Nami halts the inevitable argument by saying, "Okay, let's watch It. Franky?"

" _Super~_ got you Nami-sis!" He exclaims and leaps out of his stronghold – the corner lounge – causing Usopp and Luffy to excitedly jump for the favoured spot.

The movie begins and Brook watches in amusement as Sanji hurls a bottle of sake at Zoro – who, naturally, catches it – and Luffy and Usopp drape themselves back over Franky as he gets into position.

It's perfect. More than he could've ever wanted in his short life.

Although, he is certain the movie is going to be terrifying, terrify him all the way down to his _bare bones,_ yohoho!

"Unfortunately, it is not particularly gory nor scary." Robin comments, sipping her hot chocolate as the opening title appears on screen.

"I don't think there's any movie that would scare you Robin." Jinbe comments, voice deep and rumbly, like far off thunder.

She laughs.

"Oi, shitty cook, you might want to cover your eye, this bit's scary." Zoro says mockingly.

"Maybe I'll just rip out your vocal chords, do us all a favour." Sanji grumbles.

"Shhh guys!" Luffy all but shouts.

"Y-yeah, there isn't anything to be sc-scared about, right, Chopper?" Usopp says with a fake smile.

"Mm, this movie will be fun!" Chopper declares and Brook smiles again.

"Tch, I don't think a gory movie would scare you either." Sanji comments, looking at Chopper fondly.

"That's because the blood is all wrong!" He replies. "And half of it isn't _humanly_ possible."

Sabo and Ace share a grin, "You guys are loud."

Nami groans, "I swear to god I will turn this damn movie off if you guys don't _shut up._ " She says and snuggles up closer to Chopper.

They're mostly quiet after that, punctuated by gasps and little trills of terror in the appropriate sections.

In this moment, Brook knows that he could stay like this forever.

Maybe without the television. Oh how his bones wish to be on open water! To have the blue stretch beyond the horizons without interruption, to live as freely as…

As what?

He's not sure, but it _has_ to be free.

Of course, like all excellent moments, it ends far too soon, and as the end credits roll he lets out the breath of anticipation running through him.

"Wah, I'm never going to sleep again." Chopper whines.

"That was nothing!" Usopp declares, "The departed will never scare me! Not as long as I have salt and fire."

"Ghosts are terrifying, Chopper." Brook admits, the prospect of a _demon_ haunting them? It makes his very _bones_ quiver in utmost horror.

Luffy stretches out, not dissimilar to how a cat would stretch, and yawns widely. "Ahhh, I think I'm going to bed. Zoro, wanna come for an early run?"

The green-haired man nods, "Sure, wake me up whenever."

"Do you two want something to drink before you head out?" Sanji asks to the two brothers.

"Some tea would be nice, thanks." Ace says with a nod.

"I second that." Sabo smiles.

"Ah, might I also request a tea, Sanji-san?" Brook asks politely.

"Sure."

Brook nurtures his tea and decides to watch his new-found family interact. Zoro has a lazy arm around Luffy while still managing to argue with Sanji.

Chopper is listening to Usopp weave a tale of how he once saved a princess from a zombie infested island, becoming much more badass than he already was in the process.

Nami was peppering Franky with design ideas for her room and Robin had retreated to watch Zoro and Sanji battle with an amused grin.

That night, after they have retreated to the shared bedroom (he was hardly shy, these people _were_ his family) Brook dreams of declarations of war and shared bonds, weeping over the loss of a brother.

But there was one detail he wasn't supposed to forget! Something about a sea-shell? Or maybe the straw hat?

He isn't so sure now. There was something about a burial and to come seek him at one stage.

And when he wakes, well, he doesn't quite _remember,_ but he has a vague idea, from the way Luffy is clinging to him, head resting comfortably on chest. He smiles and twines his fingers through the younger man's inky hair.

Chopper and Usopp are pressed up against his back, Chopper's head pillowed on Franky's _super_ arm. Jinbe has an arm around Usopp and his free hand lingers near Luffy.

Sanji is clinging to – and he has to fight his laughter at this – Zoro, the swordsman snores on, blissfully unaware to the trauma to be born in the morning.

Nami is closest to the door and has pulled Robin into her grip. The archaeologist is awake though, Brook can tell from the little greeting she gives him.

"Sanji looks quite comfortable there." Robin giggles softly and Brook nods.

"It will be quite a rude awakening, I should think."

"Mmmm." Luffy mumbles, lifting his head sleepily. "What's the time?"

Robin twists her head to look at the watch Nami has on, "4:17, Luffy."

"Hmm," he rolls over within Brook's grasp, "I think it's close enough for a run. Oi, Zoro."

Luffy twists out of Brook's grip and toes Zoro none too gently.

"Ugh." Zoro groans, rolling over, unfortunately taking Sanji with him.

He seems to realise that the pair of arms surrounding are _not_ who he wants to be sleeping with because the shrill, scream that tears itself out of Zoro's throat is something that will forever be seared into their memories. "Get off!"

"Ooh Nami-swan." Sanji says, drawing in Zoro like a vice, clearly still asleep.

Luffy, holding in his laughter until this point, lets it out, finally waking up the rest of the sleepy-heads. "Ah! We're under attack!" Usopp shrilly shouts.

"Are we?!" Chopper jumps up, running around the mattress in terror.

Nami lets out an unearthly growl and suddenly everything stops, like a moment frozen in time.

"Shit… we woke the demon." Franky whispers as quietly as a flamboyant cyborg can manage.

"Okay we're going for a run now, bye!" Luffy shouts, quickly dragging Zoro out of the room.

Brook holds his breath as Nami eventually falls back into her place on the mattress, smiling as he finds that he's unable to go back to sleep.

Humming a soft tune amongst the sleeping people, he thinks that this is how he would want to die, surrounded by _nakama._

Though, he has a feeling that they have something specific to do before they will be allowed to die.

"Something on your mind?" Robin asks, Chopper has ended up in her lap, and she runs her hands through his hair softly.

"It's likely nothing, but I feel like we're supposed to find something." Brook scratches his chin, in his dreams their leader _definitely_ had a straw hat, but Luffy certainly did not. The only other thing of importance was the little sea-shell he kept with him.

He was supposed to give it to a friend, wasn't he? "Maybe if you stop thinking about it so hard, it will come to you." Robin smiles.

"Ah, you may be correct, Robin." Brook dips his head. "Damn, is there anything productive we may do to pass the time?"

Robin smiles again, "Perhaps if you return to sleep?"

He shakes his head, "No, I'm afraid that sleep will elude me for the rest of the morning."

Robin sighs and delicately places Nami and Chopper down, she beckons him with a finger and climbs out of the room. "Sanji will be waking soon to fix Zoro and Luffy something to eat. Until then, I think tea will be suitable. Which tea would you like?"

"Earl grey?"

She nods, fetching the loose-leaf tea and setting the kettle to boil.

"Would you like to talk about your dreams?" Robin asks, setting the tea down along with milk and sugar.

Brook smiles appreciatively, "I hope I am not a burden."

"Of course not, I would not have asked if I did not want to know." Robin says.

"Well, they've been of many fantastical places, but since I was a boy I knew that there was something… unusual about my dreams. They felt more vivid than they should, and were of people I had never met."

"Your brain has the ability to pick faces out of a crowd and use them within your dreams." Robin interrupts.

"Yes, but my point is that my entire life has felt like déjà vu, the annoyingly persistent thought that my whole life is only second to another, past life."

"Reincarnation?"

"Perhaps, but, Robin, have you ever dreamt of us all on a ship? With purpose?" He implores, leaning over the island.

Robin frowns, "Perhaps I have. Most of my dreams are best left as murky remains. Even so, what does that prove? That we were pre-ordained to meet?"

"Maybe… I don't know. This is all so frustrating." He says, hand enclosing around the mug tightly.

Robin hums into her mug.

"But, there is one thing." He says, watching the milk swirl through the tea. "One piece of the dream I remember more clearly than the others. We are meant to find a straw-hat of some sort, I am unsure of where this lays, perhaps a grave? But, I know that we _have_ to find it. It is imperative."

"Have you any idea of where it may be buried?" Robin leans closer, clearly intrigued.

"Unfortunately, no." He says. "But you are an archaeologist, aren't you?"

Robin smiles widely, "Sort of, I worked for Universities in a few countries. As part of my job, the Universities funded my research and sometimes expeditions. I can help try and piece together this mystery. We all can."

"I don't believe that the straw hat would have lasted as long as we would be hoping. I presume a scrap would serve the same purpose." Brook attests.

"Perhaps." Robin fingers her mug for a moment, "Join me to watch the sun rise?" She asks.

"Of course."

They make their way up to the roof of their miniature mansion and push their way through the miscellaneous plants before seating themselves on the edge of the building.

"Thank you for listening to me this morning." Brook says as the sky turns pink, "I truly appreciate you lending your ears to a fool like me."

"You're certainly not a fool, Brook." Robin says, "Reincarnation is a concept that many cultures have attempted to prove. Perhaps Buddhism comes closest with _Samsara,_ the impermanent, dissatisfactory life cycle. Buddhists try to accrue karma to give themselves a better next life so they can become enlightened and thus escape _samsara_."

" _Samsara,_ huh?"

"Yes, Buddhists scholars debate the use of the word 'reincarnation' as it denotes the existence of a soul which is permanent. In a world where nothing is permanent, how can something like a soul exist?"

"I'm afraid I'm not up to scratch with many historical aspects." Brook admits, drinking the remaining dregs of his tea.

Robin shrugs, "There are few people that are. History is not deemed 'interesting' enough or of as great importance as other subjects."

"You disagree?"

She shrugs again, "I understand the hatred of being told to do something as a child. That feeling of helplessness leads some children to severely stunt their learning, the frustration of having to learn complex things if only for an exam."

Brook has nothing to say so he does not try to fill the silence only broken by periodic bird-song.

Slowly the sun breaches the horizon, casting orange streaks through the sky. They hear Sanji get up and begin breakfast, eventually they hear Zoro and Luffy return and decide to also return, "That was beautiful, wasn't it?" Brook says.

"It was." Robin agrees.

Breakfast is as eventful as Brook pictured, with Luffy stealing anyone and everyone's waffles and throwing bacon haphazardly on maple syrup and his little stack of fluffy whipped cream.

"Disgusting." Nami says, pointing her fork at him.

Luffy shrugs and keeps eating, not trying to dissuade the fact.

"Why are you so dressed up today?" Zoro asks, eyeing the black pencil skirt and white blouse.

"Well, if you _must_ know, I have an interview today with a super up-tight children day-care facility." Nami says while peeling a mikan.

"Well, in that case, good luck Nami!" Brook declares.

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll knock them ou- off their feet." Usopp hastily amends, shovelling a strawberry into his mouth.

"Thank you, guys." Nami says sweetly, glancing at her watch, she grabs a brief-case down by her feet, "Is it okay if I take your car, Zoro?"

Grumbling, the man tosses his keys over and Nami stalks out the door. "Damn witch."

"Yohoho, this is quite lively." Brook joyously comments.

Franky laughs heartily, "This is one of their quieter days."

"Mm." Jinbe agrees. "Usually it ends with a food fight and Sanji kicking almost everyone out."

"Yoho, I can certainly imagine that." Brook smiles.

Slowly they all fade off to do other tasks or jobs, Brook isn't so sure, until it is Sanji, Luffy and himself that remains.

Luffy seems to be finishing up everyone's plates and _finally_ sits back with a satisfied grunt. "Thank you, Sanji."

"Luffy, may I have a word with you?" Brook asks as the man turns to bound off.

"Sure!"

Leading him into the loungeroom, Brook thinks that together, they can work out _anything,_ even this mystery about a straw hat and half-forgotten memories.

He knows that the others understand the memories, have all been drawn to this man, much like planets drawn into the suns' gravity. And they _will_ remember, like they were destined to be.

Nothing, _nothing_ will break their bond.


	15. Chapter 15

_wow this quickly turned into an entirely different au... god im so sorry yall have to deal with such a piece of shit such as myself, i can barely handle school and work but here i am, dumb enough to publish this before completing it._

 _Anyways, i may be trash but my beta is not! Many thanks to MasterQwertster for sticking with me through all these months! i hope you guys enjoy_

* * *

Nami spills the various maps and brochures she's collected out on the massive table including a tax book with the expenses scrawled within it. "It's nearing the school holidays and seeing as some of you guys are still in school, plus university has holidays about that time, this is the time we're going. Got that?"

Robin smiles, her and Brook have been tirelessly ironing out the details of the road trip, set for the country. Robin knows from the conversation she had with Brook that the object of his desires is incredibly important, not only to him, but to all of them.

She's the most well-travelled person out of their little group and the only tug, the only whisper of meaning her life has held has been within them. She trusts them wholly, and that has never happened before.

So, when Luffy had announced that they should go on a road-trip, she'd immediately known the person behind the ultimate decision for such a frivolous matter. A road-trip… her lips curl into a smile.

It sounds like a wonderful idea. First, they'll start off on the backroads of Australia until Brook is certain that the object is not here, nor in Tasmania. Next, they'll be shifting to New Zealand and eventually North to Indonesian countries, ending up most likely in Japan.

Robin loves Japan more than any other country she's visited. It's gorgeous, thick with knowledge and nature in almost every aspect of life. It was her job to cover flights and she consulted Franky on whether or not they should just steal caravans over in other countries before he shakes his head.

Thus, the most reasonable approach was to sail instead, leaving their ship docked at port, the next course of action was for Franky to receive an international pass to other countries so that they were able to pass through, unhindered.

Nami was in charge of plotting courses through the countries they were to visit – with Luffy's approval, naturally – and dotted lines criss-crossed through state maps, brochures accumulated in sections with 'little planet' books, leafs protruding outwards.

She also was the treasurer, having declared that if they were to do this, they'd need a fund saved up. Jinbe had offered to half-pay for the trip but was promptly turned down by Luffy, his reasoning being that Jinbe's aquarium needed the money more so.

Robin had already requested leave through the countries. If she found anything interesting, it was to be reported back to the university, but it was more so a sabbatical – not that she was complaining, payed leave was payed leave.

For the other Straw Hats, they'd been packing everybody's wanted belongings into Usopp's white van. "Chopper, why don't we paint the van?" Usopp turns excitedly to the doctor.

"Yes! Yes! Can we?" Chopper says excitedly. "We could paint sakura trees and anything we want!"

Usopp grins widely, "Leave the paint to the great Usopp, we'll surely get some if I ask Franky nicely."

Robin smiles, it _is_ a necessity of a good road trip to have a terribly bright vehicle, especially considering that they'll be trekking around in a van. It's begging to be coloured.

"Do you think Merry will mind?" Chopper asks.

"Nah, not if I ask her first." Usopp says.

And Merry ends up painted in garish, psychedelic colours that remind Robin of 'hippie Kombi' vans from the 80's. She's displeased the trend has returned, but it's amusing to think they'll be travelling in such a vehicle.

Especially because along one side of the van is a sakura tree, petals painted in the same psychedelic colours as the rest of Merry. And to top the vehicle, at the front on the bull bar stands a sheep head, staring proudly at the absolute mess of their body.

"Ah, Nami-swan, may I have the money for grocery shopping?" Sanji asks, dragging Jinbe along with him so that they could carry everything. taking advantage of larger crew members, are we, Sanji? :p

Robin thinks that a week is not much time to properly put together the rest of this road-trip. Sure, it's been about a month since they had decided they were to leave. Sure, Franky has finished the ship they will be sailing, Nami has planned the next years in both geographical and financial terms, Sanji has sketched out a rough meal-schedule for at least a few months, Chopper has a horde of medical supplies at the ready, Usopp was in charge of board games and any other menagerie of supplies he could land his hands on. Zoro, Brook, and Jinbe hadn't had specific roles, but they'd chipped in where they could, and Luffy? He'd gone and stayed with Ace and Sabo for a bit, Robin knows that the separation is not one to be desired.

But, one month? Not a lot of time compared to the months, maybe years they'll end up overseas, in backwater towns they could not relate to their own home. She supposes home is a relative term though. Home is where the soul is and they can all safely say that their soul resonates with Luffy.

So, Jinbe entrusts the aquarium to the few staff hands they have and posts jobs up for teenagers looking for work, causing an influx of workers. It means more money is spent paying for them, but it means the aquarium has some of Franky's Family looking out for it _and_ some teenagers that are instructed to try and clean up the aquarium to make it livelier. Robin chuckles when she hears that, teenagers no doubt despairing over how to make an aquarium _livelier_.

Usopp puts his combined degree of arts and literature on hold, promising that the hex of debt he'd accumulated at this point would mean he'd come back to it. Eventually. (course, he could look into online classes, maybe)

Zoro lines up as many fights as he can before he leaves, to try and put his name to the world and rake in as much money for their little horde that is promptly turned over to their dragon.

Sanji almost quits his job, except the working chefs had positively begged him, saying that even if they had to wait for a hundred years, it would be worth the wait for his cooking.

Luffy had help from Ace to put his TAFE course on pause for a bit. They'd spent quite the amount of time together and Robin can't help but think it's because of the supressed memories hidden within the mist of _this_ life. After all, when she thinks about Luffy and Ace, an overwhelming sense of dread curls within her stomach while simultaneously, joy dances across her skin. He died, but now he's not dead (anymore)

Nami and Jinbe both apply to get International Competence Certificates so that they're legally allowed to sail in international waters. Nami figures out what they have to do to stay in port at other countries for a small amount of time and Franky uses both his and Iceberg's reputation to ensure that their ship will stay safe.

They haven't decided on a name yet, Thousand Sunny is redundant considering it's the conjoined name of the aquarium and their house. And besides, a ship can never be made the same way twice. Quite frankly, it would be insulting to the half-hidden memory of Sunny.

The ICC will take a month or two to be properly processed but that's okay considering that first they will be travelling around Australia

And just like that, Robin finds herself with her little shoulder bag, staring wistfully at their home. So many memories shared between them all in such a short amount of time. She will easily admit that she's going to miss it, but she's certainly going to enjoy this _just_ as much.

Other countries are fascinating to her archaeologically driven mind and it will be much better now that she's not fearing for her life in every step she takes. And Australia? The indigenous culture is _much_ more interesting than the colonised cities and while she highly doubts that the object they're now actively seeking is in Australia, the road trip will give them a feel for adventure.

Hopping into the now modified Merry, she relaxes in her chair, "Ahoy me hearties." Jinbe says with a put-on accent, he twists from the driver's seat to stare back at the gathered crew, immediately, all activity stops. "As your driver, I'm pleased to inform you that we will be first driving south to Thredbo as popular demand has decreed that we're going to go skiing!"

Woops resonate through the van and Robin grins widely, looking forward greatly to it. Snow is definitely something to be excited by, and it differs from country to country, so, the opportunity to see it is overwhelming.

She's sitting in her own window seat, Brook, Luffy, and Zoro closest to her. Chopper is squished in the window seat next to Franky. Franky and Usopp sit on either side of Sanji as he weeps that he's not near the women of their crew.

Nami and Jinbe have the front seats as the helmsman and navigator. Jinbe is also the most proficient at staying awake for insane periods of time, matched only by either her or Brook, but she doesn't feel like driving just yet. To hold everyone's lives in her hands is a bit disconcerting. Besides, it's not her job for such matters.

Brook refused on the principle that he would make music for them when their mixed cassettes run out. Sure, there's probably a solid month or two stored within their extensive cassette collection. Some hold Brook's own creations with help from Franky to properly record them in the way that he wished.

Nami puts in no. 1 and hits play, as For Whom the Bell Tolls fills the car Nami whips around to glare at Franky, "What? I didn't put this on Nami-sis." He says, putting his large hands out in front of himself.

Secretly, Robin smiles to herself, she doubts that anyone would guess that she loved this song like an anthem, usually she'd go for something more orchestral but… they'll have their fill of orchestral from Brook. because no one ever suspects Robin ;-)

Zoro shifts in his seat. Robin knows he's a fan of the song as well, such as it nears the cusp of punk in its' lyrics.

Nami sighs heavily and Robin watches as she resigns herself to a drive of music outside of her preferences. "I'm bored." Luffy whines, stretching out his limbs.

"Why don't we play I-spy?" Robin suggests, turning to face him.

"Yeah!"

"I'll start!" Sanji snickers. "I spy with my little eye, something that begins with 'm'."

"Fuck you." Zoro says unhesitatingly.

"Why? You don't even know what I had my eye on."

Franky snorts, "What was it then bro?"

"My Robin-chan!" He exclaims immediately.

"Sure, sure." She hears Usopp mutter, earning an elbow to his ribs. "Hey!"

"I'll go!" Luffy says. "I spy with my little eye, something that begins with meat."

"Is it meat?" Usopp asks haltingly.

"How did you guess?" Luffy says with a grin. hahahahaha, oh Luffy dear!

Usopp sighs and Robin laughs.

"Yohoho, but there is no meat…?"

"But there should be…" On cue, Luffy's stomach growls and Robin hears Nami sigh long-sufferingly, reaching into the eski at her feet – the only reason it was there was because she 'didn't trust Luffy not to eat it within the hour' – and procures a bundle of sandwiches.

"Okay, Luffy, you get _one_ of these every hour, understand?" Nami says, turning in her seat so she could glare at him. "For every one you eat, it's a dollar out of your allowance."

"Okay Nami!" He grins blindingly and scarfs down the sandwich. "I'm still hungry…"

"Anyone else want theirs now?" Nami asks, ignoring Luffy for the most part (she's not going to mention that Sanji made at least five for Luffy per hour).

It turns out that everyone bar Jinbe wants one and Nami sighs again, passing them through the van, making sure to avoid Luffy's wandering hands.

They've made it through two cassettes by the time they make their pit stop in a town just a little north of Canberra, Sanji pulls out the larger refrigerator currently filled with ice and withdraws a few packets of sausages.

Normally, Robin knows that he'd be making his own sausages, but, it's a lot quicker and less expensive to just buy home brand sausages and bread. Sanji looks personally offended by the sausages but fires up the barbeque up regardless. poor Sanji, having to use inferior ingredients

Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp rush to the play ground and Robin laughs at the sight of three almost fully grown adults whooping and cheering in excitement at the tall slide. it is fairly easy to forget that they are on the upper end of teenage almost adult when they act so childishly most of the time

Jinbe stretches his legs and languidly follows the trio, claiming that 'someone has to be responsible,' but Robin knows that it's only a matter of time before he gets roped into whatever game they're playing. no one can resist Luffy's pace!

(It _is_ quite amusing to watch them all immediately jump onto different parts of the play ground equipment when Jinbe yells "The floor is lava!") that is adorable!

Nami marks off the amount of time it took them to arrive here and scrolls through a traffic app on her phone, "Should be another 2 hours before we make our second stop in Questacon."

"So we _are_ stopping in Questacon." Zoro confirms.

"Yeah, of course. Prices aren't _that_ expensive and those three pass as sixteen." Nami jerks her thumb at the trio now taking turns on the swing set.

Robin chuckles and replies, "Of course, but you probably could too."

"Oi, oi." Nami hesitates, the prices of her femininity clashing with that of her will to save money. "Fine…"

"Better go get some clothes then Nami-san." Brook says, eyeing her. "And allow me to put your hair in pigtails." because having a magnificent afro means he knows a thing or two about hair care

"No problem, I'm sure you'd fit into some of my more sensible clothes." Robin says, walking around the side of Merry to the back compartment where their luggage resides. "And shoes too…"

"Man this is going to be weird seeing the witch in _normal_ clothes." Zoro snickers, earning himself a kick from Sanji, rushing to his damsel's aid.

"Not another word from you moss-head." Sanji growls.

"I'd keep an eye on your sausages idiot. I doubt you'd want your food tasting even fouler than usual." Zoro growls.

"Is that burning I smell?" Franky asks quietly, causing Sanji to immediately return to his food.

"Oi oi, you shitheads! Lunch is ready." Sanji says finally, placing the sausages in buns. "Nami-swan, Robin-chan, your lunch is served."

Sure, it was store-brand sausages and bread, the salad wasn't and was delicious as always. As were the sausages. Sanji could probably make food out of mud and it would still be delicious Robin muses.

With everyone rested, Nami makes the executive call for them to load back up. The 3rd cassette gets played, except it's a much mellower cassette and Robin watches in amusement as more than half of the van falls asleep, Luffy and Zoro quite cutely lolling against each other. Sanji isn't going to be happy when he awakes, but Robin cherishes Franky and Usopp meeting over the top of the blonde in her mind for many years to come, Chopper curling into Franky's thigh is just the cherry on top.

Brook seems distressed though and quietly, just enough to be heard above the hum of the motor, Robin asks, "Are you alright Brook?"

"Yoho, quite, Robin-san."

She waits, knowing that eventually he'll properly respond to her question. She returns to the book she'd been reading, 'The Colour of Magic' by Terry Pratchett. It takes a bit, but she hears Brook begin to speak and automatically shuts the book, "It's just… we're not getting any closer to the end goal, are we?"

"It doesn't matter." Robin says. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that we've barely begun and yet we're having such a fun time. It doesn't always matter about the destination but rather the journey."

"I suppose so… yoho, thank you, Robin-san." Brook says, lifting his tea cup in acknowledgement.

She simply nods in return and slides her glasses back onto her face.

"Shut up, Brook… none of us would be here if that was the case." Zoro mumbles sleepily, rubbing an eye.

"Yohoho, sorry to wake you, Zoro-san."

Zoro waves his hand dismissively, "Don't start saying things like that around the captain, he'd probably fight you and then Chopper would be upset about injuries or whatever."

Robin doesn't keep track of time, but Jinbe announces that they're here and when she looks outside her window, the day has truly risen upon them. "Wooh! Questacon time!" Luffy exclaims in excitement, almost elbowing Brook in the face in his excitement.

"Yohoho!" Brook seems livelier and whips out his violin from god knows where and begins to play an upbeat tune.

Nami sighs and gestures to Brook for him to do her hair while she changes quietly in the back of the van, "Alright," she sits Luffy, Chopper and Usopp down, "you three are sixteen got it?"

"Whaaat?" Chopper says, "Did I get my birthday wrong?!"

Nami groans and slaps a hand to her forehead. "No, it's cheaper to get in if you're sixteen."

"Ohhh." Luffy slaps a fist on his hand. "Makes sense."

"Thankfully, I don't think it'll take much convincing for you guys…" Nami says.

"What are you wearing Nami?" Usopp says in almost exasperation.

"Hey, we gotta save us much as possible, right? I'm sixteen for the day as well, if anyone refers to me elsewise… they'll be missing a few vital organs by the end of the day." Nami promises, causing the three to lean back in horror.

"I thought Robin was supposed to be the gory one…" Usopp mutters.

They line up, and from the way the majority of them act, it isn't hard for the four of them to come off as sixteen, even Nami joins in their shenanigans 'for the sake of money'. and maybe just a bit of fun :)

The trio of kids rush off in excitement as soon as they get their tickets, rushing through the levels with the same level of finesse as baby lambs.

"How long until they find the giant slide?" Franky asks in amusement.

"I bet five minutes." Nami says, leisurely following.

(Robin knows that they've found it when there's an inhuman shriek of laughter that resonates even to the top tier where she resides.)

Robin finds herself at the stringless harp, hands strumming at random.

It's a nice enough place, clearly built more so for the younger generation, but she's not complaining and it's still entertaining to see science at work.

A few hours later and she finds herself at one of the lower levels, specifically the one with the giant slide. A few go's on that and she eventually finds herself at the final tier, the gift shop. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp aren't down here yet and she figures that they're still wreaking havoc.

In fact, she's the first one out, and that in itself is hardly a feat, considering that Zoro's probably lost, Sanji will be with Nami, Jinbe probably with the trio of children, Brook probably following after at his own pace. He likes children the most out of them, so it's hardly surprising. Yep, Brook is guy who likes children, given the Rumbar motto of making crying children laugh

Sighing, she exits the complex, sitting down at one of the café tables. She doesn't order anything, they have coffee and tea in the van, but she withdraws her sketching book from her shoulder bag and draws Merry from memory. It doesn't come out as she would like it too, but it passes the time.

Eventually the Straw Hats trickle out, happy and chatting amongst themselves. "We ready?" Jinbe asks as they exit the complex.

"Mhm! Stringtie, here we come!" Luffy grins happily.

"Thredbo…" Nami mutters under her breath, tugging at her hair but not pulling it out of her pigtails.

They load up and by this stage, the day is waning and once more, Robin watches in amusement as the crew slowly fall asleep, finding herself reluctantly falling into sleeps' clutches.

Feeling as if no time has passed, she jerks awake as they hit a pothole on the road. They pass a sign welcoming them to Jindabyne before Jinbe directs them into a national reserve. They might get a fine for staying here overnight, but she hasn't seen a 'no camping' sign yet. if they don't say no then you're free to go ;p

"Are we there yet?" Luffy grins.

* * *

The following day, after a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and cereal, they drive into the Thredbo top station, pausing only to purchase their lift passes.

"Now, we are going to stick together according to skiing ability." Nami instructs.

Luffy barely listens. He's never been skiing but it sounds fun! He gets put with Zoro, Nami, and Brook seeing as they're all beginner skiers.

Thredbo is white, and he hadn't expected to be so hot underneath his ski jacket! The white snow is gorgeous, nothing like he'd ever seen and he scoops some in his hand, giving it an experimental lick. Immediately, his gloveless hands turn numb and he drops the remaining snow, it didn't taste like much anyway.

"Oi! Zoro!" He calls, moulding some snow in his hand.

Zoro turns around and splat! The snow lands right in the middle of his face. Zoro blinks for a few moments before scooping up his own snowball, hurling it back… only for it to hit Brook in the chest. "Yohoho?" because Luffy's head would be level with Brook's chest XD

"Dammit! I was aiming for Luffy…" Zoro mutters and Luffy laughs. Even when throwing things, Zoro manages to lose his way.

Nami calls them idiots affectionately and snaps a photo with her phone before anyone can stop her.

With his skis strapped to his feet and poles in hand, he scoots on over to the small 'carpet' skiing spot. "Listen up! To change direction, lean in the opposite way to go, the quickest way to stop is to twist your knees inwards." Chopper says, demonstrating the position.

Luffy copies him to his best ability before deciding to ascend the carpet to give it a go. Out of the four of them, he and Zoro don't fall over on their first go's. He whoops and goes back on up. The wait is boring but it's a chance to truly appreciate the fine layer covering the trees, making it look like it's Christmas!

A few more goes on the carpet and when Nami manages to stick her landing without falling over, she declares that it's time for the chairlift.

Thankfully it's four per lift and together they hop on, legs becoming tangled as they lift off. "This is sooo slow." Luffy complains. If Franky had been with them, he'd probably try and modify the lift to go faster. It might be nice to get up faster, but the slow speed is so that people can get on and off safely without stopping the lift, Luffy

Eventually they reach the top and together stand, "If any of you run into me your children's great-grandchildren will live to see the debt I impose on you."

Nami's in between Zoro and Luffy, and Luffy zooms down the sudden slope with a laugh, Brook manages to fall over, long limbs tangling in each other. One of the lift attendants rush to help him up so that they don't have to stop the lift for very long.

"I think if we go through the tunnel the slope will be easier?" Brook says as they regroup in front of a line.

"Mhm." Nami agrees.

Luffy pouts, he doesn't _want_ to do the easy one, the steeper one looks like fun! But they're a group, and that means that they ski according to the lowest ability, and if that meant going on the flatter slope… at least it was a slope!

That's how they spend their day, going up the 'easy does it' chairlift and using the flatter slopes, eventually moving onto the steeper one after a hastily constructed lunch that Sanji had provided at Merry.

And on second and last day it snows! They'd agreed to stick together today, one big group that decides to continue to a harder slope. There's a beginners section for it which the four of them religiously stick to, but at the bottom is a little café they regroup in.

"Okay, so, according to the café lady, we can either ski down through that steep as hell gun barrel whatever or catch a chairlift down." Zoro says.

"Ooh, I want to ski down." Franky says, the rest of the crew silently agreeing.

"Might as well…" Nami says.

"Alright!" Luffy pumps his fists in the air. "Time to go!"

It's almost blizzard conditions outside and _definitely_ colder than yesterday, but as a group they ski down the slopes, not _once_ falling over. Luffy feels like he's skied before, not properly, but, it feels less natural to have the skis attached to his feet. down the drums escaping from laphans

The cold doesn't usually bother him either, but the wind combined with the literal snow has him wishing for some warmer clothes.

They reach the bottom of the slope and Luffy stacks his skis up and throws a snowball at Usopp, catching his nose. "Oi, oi! Do you really think you're a match for the great Usopp?!" He asks maniacally, Usopp hurling his own snowball back, hitting him in the nose too.

And just like that, they devolve into an every-man-for-themselves snowball fight, "Watch where you're throwing moss for brains, you almost hit Robin!"

"Shut up, curly-brow!"

"Yohoho! Chopper knows what he's do-" splat!

"Nobody can beat the invincible cyborg! _Suuuper~!_ "

"You're all ridiculous." Nami huffs, still joining in. "Come on Robin, let's make a fort and destroy them."

"I think not." And Robin lands a snowball on Nami who's mouth drops in response.

"Oh. It is _on_." Nami throws herself into the fray with twice as much vigour as before.

"Wah! That was _dirty,_ Luffy." Chopper exclaims as Luffy shoves some snow into the space between his hood and undergarments.

"I am the king of water, might as well conquer snow!" Jinbe declares, flicking some snow up with his skis. worst snow blast is when someone skis down and performs a sharp bank right before you, throwing up a spray of snow right on top of you

Eventually they tire out and inevitably flop into the soft snow. It's softer now that it's snowed a fresh layer of powder, Luffy realises and happily wriggles around in it for a while. added the powder bit because it can snow heavy wet snow, which isn't soft and nice

They're quiet before Usopp says, "I bet you I can build the best snowman."

Just like that, they're into action once more.


End file.
